Roll Calls...the Good, Bad and the Ugly

[Smiles3usa]

...okay so I could not think of better title....and setted on one (that I thought) was a bit capitvating. What is it that makes a good roll call? It's rather certain that most ships sail with a full compliment of passengers. Yet, it seems, that some roll calls are full of so many pages, that it is time consuming to review them all. And others there is nothing. Some roll call are full or "chit-chat" (for lack of better words) that is more socializing than cruise-relate. Since I am one that is not good at small talk, i.e., chit-chat, I rarely get much out of it--but I understand the connections some make from the small talk and so I choice to just ignore those posts that do not interests me. I do enjoy and research, extensively, those post of others who talk of shore excursions that they have previously done, or those that suggest excursions that I would like to experience, to learn as much as possible...especially for those ports that I have not done before.

 

Anyway, I said all that to say this: what do you enjoy in a roll call? When do you join? What do you share? What do you think would make roll call threads more enjoyable and more inclusive for others to share in? Do you ever just read roll call threads, without joining in? Why? How do you motivate others to join in your particular Roll Call thread?

 

All insight gratefully appreciated!

[attilamom1217]

Good question. I llike an active roll call. i went on one cruise where the roll call was only 5 pages!!!!

 

I seem to like a combination of chit-chat and planning. I enjoy 'speaking' with my fellow cruisers who are as excited about their upcoming cruise. I don't participate in all of the activities planned, but i can pick and choose those that interest DH and I and we do attend the Celebrity Connections. I have become lifelong friends with some of my former fellow cruisers - sometimes because of the chit-chat.

 

I booked my current cruise 9 months prior to the cruise. The roll call was already active and that made me feel great about my choice of cruise. There are lulls in the planning, but sometimes a simple "good morning - one day less to wait to cruise" is all that is needed to get people talking on the boards. By the time we cruise, we will all be friends! :D

[Lovemychoos]

For me personally, the roll calls are a brilliant source of information, not only about the ships themselves, but people sharing their knowledge about ports and excursions. We're fairly new to Celebrity, next month will only be our 5th cruise with them, and I love to read about who is going, and if they've done a similar cruise before etc.

 

We don't bother with excursions, but reading the roll calls these seem to very popular and people seem to save a lot of money getting together and arranging private tours etc.

 

Lou

[TLCOhio]

We are exactly four months away from our Solstice cruise and our roll call has been very busy, good, interesting and sharing. We are now at 2,857 posts and 44,298 views.

 

We are looking forward to our first “down under” visit, Jan. 20-Feb. 3, 2014, Celebrity Solstice sailing, departing Sydney, going from Australia to Auckland/NZ doing 14 days on this ship we loved in the Med in June 2011. Plus, doing some pre-cruise options for Cairns/Port Douglas, the Rainforest and Great Barrier Reef, then Kangaroo Island near Adelaide before departing from Sidney’s scenic harbor. And, doing the mid-cruise ship over-night trip to and in Queenstown and then stopping in Hawaii on the way home to break up that long, long flight back. Our roll call is at:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1614754

Welcome to any who want to join us for this trip and/or travel along via the web as we get prepared for that "adventure".

 

What makes a good, active roll call? It takes a few people, including me, who are not shy in sharing info. I like to post lots of visuals or "eye candy" as I call it. It's easy to gain those pictures from sites such as Bing.com or Google under their image search features. I also get Google news updates related to these areas where we are visiting. Sharing that type of info helps get people to check in, etc. We also have a very good poster, Mike from Miami, who has a super great listing and updates to track who is on this cruise, key info, etc. Activity and sharing make the difference. If people are shy and/or not sharing, you'll get less postings, interest, etc.

 

Our roll call has had lots of other great posters who share, added good info, ask vital questions, etc. One of the laws of physics is that "a body in motion tends to stay in motion". This is one of Sir Isaac Newton's three physical laws. It's "science", but it also applies to these boards.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Did a June 7-19, 2011, Celebrity Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Enjoyed great weather and a wonderful trip. Dozens of wonderful visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc., on these postings. We are now at 142,346 views for this live/blog re-cap on our first sailing with Celebrity and much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

[C 2 C]

Some roll calls take on a life of their own, some are stillborn.

 

I am on one where certain people were considering having their children and grandchildren hook up at the Meet & Mingle.

 

My favorites are those involving former fellow cruisers. We don't bother with too many excursions any more but those planned by people you know is a great feature of roll calls. I am extremely dubious of first time posters arranging trips.

 

Some roll calls involve a lot of chatter, some about pets and all their ailments, some about personal tragedies, some about their offspring and a lot about favorite sports.

 

One learns to get as involved as much as their personal comfort level.

[bz]

Our cruise is still seven months away and when I go to the roll call it's a few folks talking about anything but the cruise. Pages of it. Why don't the exchange emails and chat that way? I'm so tempted to add an admonishment, but I'm such a coward, even anonymously. Our last cruise it was all about the cruise, questions, answers, folks getting together for private tours. This roll call seems to be entirely different. Get a life, folks!

[Italy52]

I think some people start out with the small talk just to get comfortable with fellow cruisers. As time goes on, cruise/excursion questions are asked and information is exchanged. I have found that the connections group is a great way to find out if our cruise has dropped in price or if a special is running. We have also met many wonderful people whom we have kept in contact with since our cruises.

 

What I do not care for is people who drop in a thread just to get advice and you never hear from them again --- to me, that is a little one sided.

[helen haywood]

I subscribe to the Roll Calls because there is always at least one super diligent person who will post when price drops occur. I have saved big time this way!

[Nebr.cruiser]

I like roll calls that have a lot of information about the cruise, ports, and that have good private excursions that can be joined, if wanted.

 

I am not too fond of the ones that are mostly chatting between a few members, often about completely non-cruise related items. It's difficult to wade through all the chit-chat to find information that is actually useful for the cruise.

 

I'm not a small-talk kind of person in real life, either, so that probably colors my opinion.

[Penney80]

Hi

I am not a chit chatter either but love to read what other people have to say. I like it when they have news to report especially when it is about a price drop!

Joann and Bob

[suec12]

Hoepfully no one from my current roll call will see this, I think I am prety much off the radar of the main posters, but IMO my current roll call is overflowing with "froth". There is a core that is planning a pre-cruise meal, travel to the port and onboard activities all of which are nice but the lists of these activities and the roll call have been posted so many times the roll call may be headed for an all time record. Plus alot of personal chit chat. Yes, at some point people need to take the personal chit chat off line!

 

I enjoy some personal greetings and chit chat but I think its best if most posts remain in the context of either the upcoming ports or ship information. Tour planning, books to read as background, previous experiences, even weather expectations and what to pack - that sort of info is great and makes participating in a roll call is a great way to travel plan and enjoy the anticipation of an upcoming trip.

[voyager70]

Interesting thread. I also love to learn about ports I've not been to from people who have been there, and ship hints/info if it's a new ship for me. Have gotten some valuable info from the roll calls. I do agree that some of the roll calls filled with non-related chit chat can be a bit annoying, especially when it's two or three posters going back and forth about personal events/issues that go on for pages.

[CRUZBUDS]

We've met many friends on Roll Calls and have taken other cruises with them. Half of our contact names are folks we've met on cruises, many introductions occurred on the Roll Call boards.

 

Next April we're cruising with people we met on the Century this spring and we just found out (via Roll Call) a couple we met on our Zuiderdam Roll Call from last year are aboard.

 

I agree about the personal exchanges sometimes go a little too long. :)

[bz]

as posted before, my roll call is almostl exclusively chit chat. Exchange emails and do it there!

[ORV]

I like roll calls that have a lot of information about the cruise, ports, and that have good private excursions that can be joined, if wanted.

 

I am not too fond of the ones that are mostly chatting between a few members, often about completely non-cruise related items. It's difficult to wade through all the chit-chat to find information that is actually useful for the cruise.

 

I'm not a small-talk kind of person in real life, either, so that probably colors my opinion.

 

One way to head off the chit chat is to do a lot of posting yourself, hopefully cruise related.

 

The thing that really annoys me are the self appointed moderators on Roll Calls. I told one a while back that he was not the boss of me.(some old song) Unless you've got Moderator up there by your handle you're not in charge.

 

I have no problem with the visiting and chit chat, after awhile you can learn whose posts to ignore or just skim. It takes more effort to post and complain about it than to just keep reading.

[patty1955]

I like an active roll call that's not filed with chit-chat. I always subscribe to my roll call and I hate when I get emails that says "the weather is really warm, how is it where you are" that's directed to another member of the roll call. Please, take if off-line or at least to email.

Our transpacific cruise roll call had over 2000 post when I joined (1 year out) and it was very intimidating. And there was very little chit-chat! It would have been very informative but there was just too much to read.

The roll call for our upcoming cruise is very quiet. People are still trickling in. Not a lot of info yet, but I'm hoping.

[voyager70]

One way to head off the chit chat is to do a lot of posting yourself, hopefully cruise related.

 

The thing that really annoys me are the self appointed moderators on Roll Calls. I told one a while back that he was not the boss of me.(some old song) Unless you've got Moderator up there by your handle you're not in charge.

 

I have no problem with the visiting and chit chat, after awhile you can learn whose posts to ignore or just skim. It takes more effort to post and complain about it than to just keep reading.

 

Yep. Had a few of those before.

[Azulann]

I love the roll call feature. Great information for planning excursions, price drops, and sharing excitment as we get closer to cruise date.

I also love seeing the states and, even more, the countries where cruisers are coming from.

If I see lots of Aussies and NZ I know it will be a fun time.:)

[CPT Trips]

One way to head off the chit chat is to do a lot of posting yourself, hopefully cruise related.

 

The thing that really annoys me are the self appointed moderators on Roll Calls. I told one a while back that he was not the boss of me.(some old song) Unless you've got Moderator up there by your handle you're not in charge.

 

I have no problem with the visiting and chit chat, after awhile you can learn whose posts to ignore or just skim. It takes more effort to post and complain about it than to just keep reading.

 

There becomes way too much reading when a roll call is 4 parts chit chat and 1 part cruise related.

 

I experienced one roll call where the self appointed "mod" had separate sub threads for each activity. Woe be the poster that used the main roll call to discuss these topics. By the time I left, the main roll call was nothing but chit chat totally unrelated to the cruise.

[Onessa]

I've generally found my roll calls to be very useful. I have found other pax traveling with kids my kid's age. I put together or joined tours. I've gotten some really good info from people who had already traveled to some of the ports (and have shared my experiences when I've already traveled to some of the ports)

 

While I do not mind the high-level, getting to know people, "chit chat" some people do take it too far. I like to know where people are from, with whom they are traveling, what level of experience they might have.

 

I tend to hold back a bit until I get a lay of the land. Once we had one member pipe in that they were travelling as a same sex couple and things got nasty with two other posters who were intolerant. Similarly I've gotten "anti kid" vibes a few times and have puposely omittted the age of my DD (but now she is turning 18YO so she must magically be "ok" :)). There is always that chance that you will get someone overly opinionated on your board -- gotta work on keeping those folks in check or they will stiffle the exchange.

[TexSea]

I do wish that there were a better way to organize a roll call. Right now everything is linear and you pretty much have to read from post #1 to see who's organizing a tour, how many seats are open, etc. I'd like to see either sub-forums for tour organizing, port information, etc or wiki-type pages that can be updated as needed. That way the roll call is there for conversation for those that want it and a source of organized information for everyone else.

[wwcruisers]

Well, I'm lucky enough to be part of a fabulous roll-call. We have over four months to go, and we're already up to nearly 140 pages, on our thread! :D

 

This was an unusual, last-minute itinerary offering by X, and there was a lot of initial confusion about rates, cabin availability, etc. Fortunately, we have many experienced cruisers, and everyone stepped up to help each other through the booking maze. And, since we still don't have any X shore excursions listed, our r/c'ers are sharing port info, and starting to set up some outings, on their own. Many of us are doing b2bs, and we have some wonderful, infinitely patient, folks keeping roll-call charts and lists -- so, we know who's going to be where, and when (more challenging than it sounds).

 

I'll admit that all those pages can be a little daunting to get through. Truth be told, not every single post is strictly cruise-related. We do occasionally talk about the weather, and even .... gasp .... football ;)! But, I've been on that thread from the beginning -- and I've never seen anyone turned away, or their questions ignored. And, fortunately, we have none of those "my way or the highway" organizers to boss us around, either. :eek:

 

So, if our gargantuan roll-call thread is any indicator, I think this is going to be a great cruise! :cool:

Edited September 20, 2013 by wwcruisers

[mafig]

Well, I'm lucky enough to be part of a fabulous roll-call. . :eek:

 

So, if our gargantuan roll-call thread is any indicator, I think this is going to be a great cruise! :cool:

 

 

I think so too!:)

 

I also have a cruise booked in November and it's the complete opposite. There are only 68 posts (and I think half of them are mine). I guess people just aren't that interested. It is great when you have an active roll call.

Edited September 20, 2013 by mafig

[C 2 C]

My pet peeve has always been people who wish to quote another poster without removing some of the info such as a picture. Five people in a row posting the same very large photo is a slow process, the same for those with long signatures posting several times a day...

 

Please edit the quote and turn off your long brag sheet about all the cruises you have completed or will be taking over the next two years if you are posting again and again on the same day... Just check the appropriate box when posting...

 

I've stopped adding a signature and our future cruise calendar as well as turning off looking at others because posts just load so much quicker.

 

These are comments that I have made before and did it ever raise a firestorm by those who either don't understand posting speed or really wanted to impress others with their past or future cruises.

 

(Off the soapbox now) ;)

[CPT Trips]

My pet peeve has always been people who wish to quote another poster without removing some of the info such as a picture. Five people in a row posting the same very large photo is a slow process, the same for those with long signatures posting several times a day...

 

Please edit the quote and turn off your long brag sheet about all the cruises you have completed or will be taking over the next two years if you are posting again and again on the same day... Just check the appropriate box when posting...

 

I've stopped adding a signature and our future cruise calendar as well as turning off looking at others because posts just load so much quicker.

 

These are comments that I have made before and did it ever raise a firestorm by those who either don't understand posting speed or really wanted to impress others with their past or future cruises.

 

(Off the soapbox now) ;)

 

And many times the large photo or grid skews the size of the other posts and makes them difficult to read. :p