How to Kill a Roll Call

[bighairtexan]

I've participated in some very chatty roll calls. Others, not so much. On one particularly chatty roll call the (at least at that time) cruiser w/ the most cruise days on Celebrity came on and introduced himself. And then commented that there was entirely too much non cruise related chat.

 

THAT killed the roll call. It was dead silent and many of us took the roll call "off Cruise Critic." I'm not sure whether it was reported or what, but one of the HOSTS came on and basically said, the roll call is what you make it and that she enjoyed getting to know peole before the cruise. That if something didn't interest you, skip over it. Then she posted the terms of service INCLUDING:

 

- ROLL CALLS are for people to get to know one another before their cruise; therefore, there will be all kinds of discussion!

Edited July 10, 2014 by bighairtexan

[MicCanberra]

ROLL CALLS are for people to get to know one another before their cruise; therefore, there will be all kinds of discussion!

I agree, anybody who posts about what is or what is not allowed to be discussed on the rollcall can automatically split the group and drive some people away to other like forums. If something being talked about is of no interest skip the post.:D

[Evangaline]

I actually bailed out of a cruise on Regent Seven Seas Navigator because the roll call was so deadly boring that I was afraid the actual cruise would be the same. These people were talking about salt buns along with a fair bit of la-de dah. Meanwhile folks on a Norwegian Epic roll call were talking about cabin crawls, daring each other to stay the limit at the Ice Bar and were planning crazy excursions. I decided to book on the Epic instead.

[Pushka]

I'd never bail on a cruise because of a roll call. There are thousands of people on the ship and maybe less that 50 in the roll call. Ours has at most 8! But it will be a fabulous trip. Believe it or not not everyone has heard of cruise critic.

[MicCanberra]

I'd never bail on a cruise because of a roll call. There are thousands of people on the ship and maybe less that 50 in the roll call. Ours has at most 8! But it will be a fabulous trip. Believe it or not not everyone has heard of cruise critic.

CC members can sometimes represent around 10% of the PAx on board but this is rare. Normally it is much less.:D

[mum and son]

A few years ago I cruised on NCL and the roll call made it one of the best trips of my life. The people were fantastic - and I've since caught up with them in other parts of the world. I'm from Australia and I met a couple from South Africa when we cruised from Barcelona. Two years later we arranged to meet up in Las Vegas. Best roll call ever!

 

I ditched my roll call on my last Celebrity cruise. I was very involved in the early days but there was one domineering person on the roll call who always commented on what she believed to be negative aspects of the tours suggested by any other roll call members. She was downright nasty. She even dumped my group of 8 from one of her tours because I was awaiting a new passport for my son and couldn't supply her with the number until it arrived. We were still months from the cruise date. Then she refused to return the deposit I had paid to her. To this day she never has... :mad:

 

My sister had the misfortune of sitting next to her on a tender one day and she was so boastful about who she was and how she ran the roll call and was basically the queen of CC! Then she complained about every aspect of the cruise so far... I'm glad I stayed away from her!

[mum and son]

Oh, and I should post a warning about organising every detail of your tours on a public forum. In Turkey a few years ago we left the ship and there was a guide holding a sign with our group's name on it, so we followed him and boarded his bus. Our whole group was onboard when our "real" guide boarded the bus to get us. The "fake" guide had got every detail of our tour from our roll call, including our names, the itinerary and the $$pp.

 

They fully intended to take us on the tour we had arranged (I think :eek:) but were essentially stealing us from our real guide who had spent time and effort helping us organise our tour.

 

So... don't post every detail for anyone to see!

[The_Big_M]

I'd never bail on a cruise because of a roll call. There are thousands of people on the ship and maybe less that 50 in the roll call. Ours has at most 8! But it will be a fabulous trip. Believe it or not not everyone has heard of cruise critic.

 

For sure. I'm yet to see a roll call that's more than a very small proportion of the cruise life onboard.

 

You _can_ make it your focus - but there's a whole lot more onboard as well.

[The_Big_M]

Oh, and I should post a warning about organising every detail of your tours on a public forum. In Turkey a few years ago we left the ship and there was a guide holding a sign with our group's name on it, so we followed him and boarded his bus. Our whole group was onboard when our "real" guide boarded the bus to get us. The "fake" guide had got every detail of our tour from our roll call, including our names, the itinerary and the $$pp.

 

They fully intended to take us on the tour we had arranged (I think :eek:) but were essentially stealing us from our real guide who had spent time and effort helping us organise our tour.

 

So... don't post every detail for anyone to see!

 

Erk.

 

Not quite as audacious as that, but in a similar vein on my last cruise we had another group who hijacked a tour that was organised on the forum. And with the result that they being less organised, delayed our booking substantially AND impacted on the tour itself.

 

So, yes, there are some tricks played by others around roll calls, who don't respect others so much.

[NLH Arizona]

I've participated in some very chatty roll calls. Others, not so much. On one particularly chatty roll call the (at least at that time) cruiser w/ the most cruise days on Celebrity came on and introduced himself. And then commented that there was entirely too much non cruise related chat.

 

THAT killed the roll call. It was dead silent and many of us took the roll call "off Cruise Critic." I'm not sure whether it was reported or what, but one of the HOSTS came on and basically said, the roll call is what you make it and that she enjoyed getting to know peole before the cruise. That if something didn't interest you, skip over it. Then she posted the terms of service INCLUDING:

 

- ROLL CALLS are for people to get to know one another before their cruise; therefore, there will be all kinds of discussion!

So totally agree. I don't think anyone should tell others that there is too much of this or that or not enough of this or that or try to run the roll call, it should be able to take on its own personality. If one doesn't like what is posted just ignore those posts and do your own thing.

 

I think the roll calls are, like you, a way to get to know others prior to the cruise. It is a way to feel comfortable with some of those that you are cruising with. On my last few cruises, because of the roll calls, I felt like I knew some of the other cruises for some time and that was great.

[LF2C]

I've been following this thread with some interest (although some of the posts seen to wander away from the subject matter....not a deal breaker).

I never did FB, twitter or any other form of social media, but before Baltics Cruise on the Eclipse last summer I found the CC forums because I wanted to ask a question and realised there were lots of people on this thing with a vast amount of cruise knowledge.

I got an answer from a guy in Seattle known as Dr Koob who not only directed me to the Eclipse Baltics RC, but also to a specific website he'd set up for people to include a little bit about themselves and a picture so that when he organised the sailaway for the RC, people could put names to faces...ok, not everyone's cup of tea but participation was purely voluntary.

Anyway, the RC was brilliant with contributions from people all over the world, with the result that when we actually met all these people it was like a reunion of old friends, even though we'd never actually met.............not strictly true, because by chatting away we found out that one couple from Florida who had cruised a number of times with Dr Koob were doing an England Tour pre-cruise.

Coming from Yorkshire and being renown for our hospitality I offered some pointers if they were anywhere near Harrogate or York, mainly involving the famous Bettys Tea Rooms and a confection known as a Fat Rascal. It transpired that they would be staying in York so we arranged to meet complete strangers from another continent for dinner at Bettys. Not only did we have a wonderful evening but through them and other regular RC contributors, we had a wonderful cruise with people who have now become our friends and yes, the Panama Canal cruise we're doing in November is with them.

The RC is what you want it to be and what you make of it. If people list their past and upcoming cruises, so what! To me it just indicates they have lots of experience. If people want to make it more personal (within reason) so what, it just breaks the ice when you actually get to meet and very often find you have things in common that you would never have found out otherwise.

Our next cruise will be a hoot because the RC has been great.

On the other side, I've started one for our 2015 Canaries cruise, not a reply, apart from my own wife, but it is early days. I'm sure the cruise will be great, but a great RC makes it even better.

The other interesting thing to note is that the majority of RC contributors are from the USA & Canada, us Brits (I'm obviously not typical) seem to shy away from social interaction with complete strangers!

Hope everyone enjoys their upcoming cruises and future RCs

P.S. No apology for the signature, daft Martini Mates (it's special) or future cruise info lol

[Banjo]

CC members can sometimes represent around 10% of the PAx on board but this is rare. Normally it is much less.:D

 

I agree with that. I usually always sit at a table of 10 (representing 5 couples) in the MDR for a set time dinner. Usually sometime during our dinners together I bring up the subject of the Cruise Critic message board, maybe one other couple heard of it and participates.

 

I would not drop my cruise over a lousy Roll Call.

[HokiePoq]

Actually you can, as I get ready to post this if you go to the line below Submit Reply and uncheck, Show Your Signature, then it won't show on that specific post.

 

At the risk of annoying the person who hates quotes, I want to thank you for telling me about this option. I did not know about it. Hopefully, those who hate signatures will use the global turnoff others have suggested. I use my signature to count down the days and to actually remember what cruises I've been on and what year, lol. Would like to condense my signature, but when on the edit page, can't see the option to make the print smaller or fit two countdowns on the same line. Some of us don't mean to be annoying but aren't skilled at these things. Will try to figure out how to quote just a part of what someone says now.....

I personally don't mind the medical or sports references...part of getting to know people, IMHO. Fortunately I've never been on a roll call with a clique.

[Cruise Junky]

For sure. I'm yet to see a roll call that's more than a very small proportion of the cruise life onboard.

 

You _can_ make it your focus - but there's a whole lot more onboard as well.

 

My worst roll call (not bad people, just completely out of control) was Royal Princess's Maiden Transatlantic. I can't remember the exact number but I swear that roll call was half the ship. The roll call alone had to go to 3 posts because it gets shut down after about 5,000 posts. There was also a thread for every port for excursions, meet and greets, everything had it's own thread because the main roll call couldn't take the volume.

[jkgourmet]

But sometimes it just takes tooooooooooo much time and I have a lot, but many Roll calls have toooo many pages(not threads) of BS is just too much LOL

The purpose of the Roll call is to transact private tours, meet others on the cruise, organize get togethers(for all or some) etc. However, it is not a place to talk about grandkids, and/or what for dinner, family matters.

 

This is ANOTHER reason why disabling the private messaging functionality of this board us so frustrating. :thumbdown::thumbdown::thumbdown:

[RickT]

A lot depends on what you want to get out of the roll call. Depending on the tone of the roll call I join, and sometimes I avoid it. Unfortunately for my upcoming cruise I am avoiding it which is too bad because I've met some very nice people over the years.

 

Why am I avoiding it you ask?

- 3-4 people are dominating the discussion

- These people are rabid about knowing your name, cabin number, etc

- These people are planning multiple events

 

Not my cup of tea but I'm sure many of those on the roll call like this sort of thing.

[LetsGetWet!]

This is ANOTHER reason why disabling the private messaging functionality of this board us so frustrating. :thumbdown::thumbdown::thumbdown:

Couldn't agree more with that - frustrating and stupid!!! :mad:

[Pushka]

Another vote for lack of PM function.

[ORV]

I was very involved in the early days but there was one domineering person on the roll call who always commented on what she believed to be negative aspects of the tours suggested by any other roll call members. She was downright nasty. She even dumped my group of 8 from one of her tours because I was awaiting a new passport for my son and couldn't supply her with the number until it arrived. We were still months from the cruise date. Then she refused to return the deposit I had paid to her. To this day she never has... :mad:!

 

This is totally unacceptable. This person should be reported to the moderators here if they are still an active member and should lose their posting privileges. I'd out them.

 

I'm giving my passport number to no one on a Roll Call. That has never come up on any private tour we've taken.

[bbappel]

Why am I avoiding it you ask?

- 3-4 people are dominating the discussion

 

I hope it isn't one of the roll calls I'm on. Dominating discussions often just means we don't have a life. :D I know I've spent too much time in front of the computer when my post count goes up by too much.

- These people are rabid about knowing your name, cabin number, etc.

I don't think I'm being rabid, just thorough. I remind people that they haven't really introduced themselves.

 

One issue is that the Connections Party name tag from Celebrity shows only your name (as listed on the manifest - which is an issue because I am H on the Celebrity booking) and not your Cruise Critic ID, so we go to the party and unless someone on the roll call has created nametags, we are clueless as to who people are. For instance, if you are on my roll call, but your booking name is Richard, I'd never find you at the party, even if I knew we had a common interest.

I always wonder why people are so reticent.

But then I'm an Ohio girl and we are entirely too friendly to strangers. Or so I've been told.

- These people are planning multiple events

 

You do know events aren't mandatory. The NY Times once had an ad "You don't have to read it all, but it's nice to know it's all there." Well you don't have to do it all. I help pull threads of events together, but don't feel committed to do them unless I've told the organizer that I'm going.

I hope you will reconsider and introduce yourself and just pass on the events and things you don't find to your taste.

Beth

[ORV]

At the risk of annoying the person who hates quotes, I want to thank you for telling me about this option. I did not know about it. Hopefully, those who hate signatures will use the global turnoff others have suggested. I use my signature to count down the days and to actually remember what cruises I've been on and what year, lol. Would like to condense my signature, but when on the edit page, can't see the option to make the print smaller or fit two countdowns on the same line. Some of us don't mean to be annoying but aren't skilled at these things. Will try to figure out how to quote just a part of what someone says now.....

I personally don't mind the medical or sports references...part of getting to know people, IMHO. Fortunately I've never been on a roll call with a clique.

 

You're welcome. I'm curious what anyone would lose by turning off signatures? If it bothers them then they should be the one to change their settings. I'm one of the ones that like seeing others history, for various reasons. Some people do go overboard though, with land vacations, personal outlook on life etc. A quote or two is fine, a dozen not so much.

 

I always turn them off before I'm going to be on a cruise to save on time since the ship's internet is always so slow.

[wwcruisers]

I'm giving my passport number to no one on a Roll Call. That has never come up on any private tour we've taken.

 

Absolutely agree! I love my roll-calls, and often the organized tours/activities are a lot of fun. But, there are at least two things that I'm NOT giving to any stranger I just met online: Money, and my passport number! :eek:

[Presto2]

This is ANOTHER reason why disabling the private messaging functionality of this board us so frustrating. :thumbdown::thumbdown::thumbdown:

 

Never knew there was one. I've always wondered why not, as once you are on a roll call and chatting / meeting new people we always find ourselves sharing something about ourselves - where we live etc. Why isn't there a private message function - we use it on Tripadvisor and it works really well? :)

 

Sorry, am probably off topic now - :(

[Smiles3usa]

I'm curious what anyone would lose by turning off signatures?

 

Not much! I joined CC when dial-up internet was still quite popular (and cheap in my area). It would take forever to load pages because of the signatures. So, about 3 weeks after joining, I turned off all signatures. What a difference! What had taken 2 minutes to load now loaded almost instantaneously! Now that (almost) everyone has a speedy internet connection, I guess it does not make that much difference. But since I've done without them for so long, I see little reason to begin using them. I do think it is far easier for folks who would rather not see them to turn them off globally than to try to cajole others to limit what they'd like to put in their signatures. But that's just me...the path of least resistance :)

[LetsGetWet!]

Never knew there was one. I've always wondered why not, as once you are on a roll call and chatting / meeting new people we always find ourselves sharing something about ourselves - where we live etc. Why isn't there a private message function - we use it on Tripadvisor and it works really well? :)

Every single forum I've ever been a part of - except this one - has a private messaging function. The software which this forum uses has a private messaging function, which CC has specifically disabled. Why? You better ask them that - I personally think there's no valid answer for that, but that's just me!