Roll Calls

[eddiesgal]

How many of you get involved in the cruise critic roll calls? I've been to many and sometimes they make a great bit of difference in the enjoyment of a cruise and sometimes not so much. Any feedback on your feelings towards them?

Edited September 14, 2014 by eddiesgal

[JF - retired RRT]

I have been on 7 Princess cruises and always register for the roll call as soon as I know I am going.

It is a great way to "meet" fellow CCers before the M&G.

Always go to the M&G as well (except for the one I forgot).;)

[paul929207]

I also register for the Roll Call right after booking. Most have been good. Every now and then one is a dud. We have met many wonderful friends thru the Roll Calls. We have also been on many great private excursions with people from the Roll Call

[cruis247g]

I always read, but I must admit that I often do not post when I'm traveling with my family and know that I won't be available for any group excursions or a Meet and Greet.

 

However when I have participated, I've almost always enjoyed the Roll Call and the M&G. I've met a number of people whom I now consider friends, so it's been a very positive experience.

[dfields1814]

I always sign up for roll calls. Right now I am involved in 3 rolls 2 of which are very active.

 

If you get an active one that can be very helpful.

 

I am not too interested in all the posts on M and G although I do participate in some of them.

 

Some of the posters may have knowledge about the ship and/or ports which can be really helpful.

 

Also some posters organize private tours and ask for other posters to join them. This is really important and valuable.

 

On one of the roll calls I am on now there is a poster that took the same cruise last year and is giving us info based on that cruise. He has been very helpful.

[1025cruise]

When I have a cruise booked, I do join the roll call, but have yet to show up to a M+G. But then again, I don't think I've been on many active roll calls.

[Colo Cruiser]

We always try and be involved.

[Putterdude]

I am a great believer in them and often get involved in setting up the M&G and perhaps a tour or two. Yes, some of them can be complete duds but for the most part they are an excellent way to meet and get to know people.

[ggprincess2004]

I do always sign on to the roll call, and frequently get pretty active in it, setting up the meet and greet, etc. We've made some wonderful friendships from the roll call membership, had some incredible private tours, etc.

The activity level varies tremendously from roll call to roll call, but I take each one as it comes. Even the quietest ones usually have something positive going on.

[Kinkacruiser]

As an organiser of a few in the past (with 80-100 at some of the M&G's), I very much enjoy this planning aspect of the cruise (sharing ideas, tours and meeting people).

[Husky61]

How many of you get involved in the cruise critic roll calls? I've been to many and sometimes they make a great bit of difference in the enjoyment of a cruise and sometimes not so much. Any feedback on your feelings towards them?

 

We ignore the roll calls.

[cdngrl]

I join the roll call when I book the cruise.

some are slower than others but its always nice to be able to connect beforehand.

[frozennorth]

We always join the roll calls after we book and even sometimes when we are thinking of booking a certain cruise. As others have said, some have been really good and others have been duds. For the most part they have been good and are a great way to meet people. We usually attend the M & G, the attendance has ranged anywhere from about 6 to more than 50. We have arranged a tour or two and had others join us making the costs lower, as the more you have sometimes the cheaper the price. Other excursions people have booked, and we have joined, have been fantastic and someone else did all the work. We have also joined in slot pulls and cabin crawls arranged by mbrs of the roll calls. Overall I think they are a great way to start the excitement of your upcoming cruises.

 

Debbie

[Seago2]

I always sign up but they have been complete ghost towns the last few years. On my last cruise, a B2B, the second cruise had a mildly active roll call with about a dozen people at the M&G. The first cruise had nothing. That was on Carnival. So far no postings on my January Regal sailing. I remember when they used to be massive and very helpful.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[RetiredNTraveling]

Once I found CC, I have tried to get involved with the RC's. We currently have a great one going for 2015 Oct Hawaii, Samoa & Tahiti. :D

[Jadn13]

Roll Calls in the past have provided great entertainment along with many money saving tips especially for trips to Europe.

My Last Transatlantic cruise had over 200 people at the M&G

 

It can be a great resource I highly recommend joining

Edited September 14, 2014 by Jadn13

[Cruisin' Chick]

When I joined CC after booking one of our cruises pretty early, I actually started up the roll call. Helped planned the meet and greets. It did come in handy when Princess had sent out the "shore excursions are ready" email, but couldn't access them. Princess CSR wasn't helpful (just said "keep checking every week"). Someone on the roll call checked the website the next day and alerted us to the availability of the excursion booking engine.

 

I wasn't active on roll calls for the next cruises. My hubby isn't interested in going to them so I end up going by myself or dragging him along. Plus, we're not interested in joining up for shore excursions.

[azgrandmax3]

For us the most benefit has been the many private tours we have joined. More reasonable, fewer people and less shopping. Fellow CC person have been most helpful answering specific questions I could not get answered by calling Princess.

[GolfMom321]

I've joined the roll calls for the past several cruises I've done. The last two were great. We joined in a M&G and a slot pull on one, and met some fun people. On our last cruise, we met some wonderful people, booked some private tours, and ended up having the best cruise ever! They can really be a wealth of information.

[Kartgv]

For each cruise, we read the roll call and keep track of it for a couple of weeks before deciding to join or not. Our roll call for the Crown 10/18 Hawaii-S. Pacific 28 day cruise is great - very active, friendly, very little conflict and a nice mix of personal conversations and cruise/port/tour information - and over 4300 posts!

 

Our next cruise after that is for a shorter cruise next spring on another cruise line, which shall remain nameless! We check the roll call periodically, and have decided not to join. Most of the roll call posts, and especially the last 6 or 8 pages, are nothing except personal conversations about different cruises that a handful of posters have either been on together in the past or are going on before the May cruise - not one post about the May cruise. They're even joking and ridiculing the fact that someone (not us!) has complained about it being so "off topic". There's also the annoyance of one very frequent poster who has a moving cockroach in the signature - we've blocked those posts, but the gaps just add to the annoyance. So....read first, then decide if the roll call will add to your experience, or it it's a group of people who will add nothing. If you join and the roll call then turns in a direction you're not happy with, you do not have to continue to read or post or show up for anything unless it's a tour that you have reserved.

Edited September 15, 2014 by Kartgv

[rdsqrl]

I always join in on the Roll Call threads -- it's fun to chat with others who are taking the same cruise and it's a great way to share/vent the pre-cruise excitement (my non-cruising friends will only listen for so long to my cruise chatter before they shut me down!).

 

Onboard, I seldom go to the Meet and Greet. The ones on sea days are always during prime suntanning hours(!) plus I'm a little uncomfortable with how some roll calls get all in your business, with name tags and microphones, inviting every officer on the ship and acting like CC is a big deal. I like casual meet-ups arranged for sailaway better, but that can be hit or miss if sailaway is delayed or a good out-of-the-crowds venue isn't chosen, or if people don't show up in enough mass to make it obvious that it's the CC group.

 

I guess the bottom line is I'm enthusiastic about roll calls in theory but pretty laissez-faire about actually meeting people in person. Pretty normal for an introvert, I guess.

[OCruisers]

Roll Calls are a fun way to chat with your future cruise mates. :)

LuLu

[cruisincdns]

Like most, I too join the Roll Calls right after booking a cruise. I find there is a wealth of information available on these RC's especially from the seasoned cruisers and those who have taken a similar itinerary.

 

I try to contribute to the RC's I subscribe to as that is what CC is all about. Sharing information between fellow cruisers.

 

Paul

[cruisergal 1]

I too join the roll calls after booking a cruise. I have organized a few from scratch. It is a great way to meet people and get some valuable information about the cruise and excursions.

[Steviewonder1]

I have joined 4 roll calls, done private excursions from 3 of them, taken over 2 of them with the planning and tracking of private excursions and the M&G's and hosted 2 of the Roll Calls, one in our Penthouse Suite for 35 new friends. The other was for 85 members at Skywalkers in the Eastern Med. Roll calls and the Boards for them are Great places to meet new friends and have a wonderful time often at less expense than what the cruise line charges.....