Cruise with no passengers?

[Cruising-along]

13 hours ago, bcummin said:

Problems were caused by people more interested in filling private tours than exchanging useful port information. 

This has turned me off many roll calls recently.  No interest in DIY at all. 

[kazu]

Well, I guess I’ve been lucky.

 

We’ve had some great roll calls with a mix of info on ports, tips, answering questions, private excursions, activities to do on board or teams for trivia, Mah Jong, etc.

 

 

[sail7seas]

IF I ever joined a roll call I have no memory of same as it would have been a very long time ago. Idon't wish   to  commit to touring with  strangers and being obliged go with said group  for a number of tours  I just about never look at   roll calls. 

 

 

 

sail.noordam@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[sail7seas]

19 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

Yep...just need to start one.

 

Also, keep in mind not everyone sailing is on Cruise Critic.

 

 

 

 

Not everyone on CC  takes part in roll calls.

 

 

 

[drowelf]

5 hours ago, Tampa Girl said:

 

A meet and greet list, also referred to as a roll call spreadsheet.  At least that is how I titled the one that I did for the Grand Asia.  

At times its a lot of work. I've done it in the past and would consider it again, as long as I have the time to perform it properly. Give it time, maybe someone will step up or join later. 

[drowelf]

4 hours ago, kazu said:

Well, I guess I’ve been lucky.

 

We’ve had some great roll calls with a mix of info on ports, tips, answering questions, private excursions, activities to do on board or teams for trivia, Mah Jong, etc.

 

 

Me too! I find the roll calls very useful for activities and finding those really nice private excursions. I can't research every port for excursions, it helps that lots of folks are out there finding ones. Sometimes it me starting an excursion, other times I like what someone else has found and I'll join. 

 

Its true that sometimes threads can get hijacked, but in my experience that has been the exception rather than the rule. 

[sail7seas]

5 hours ago, kazu said:

Well, I guess I’ve been lucky.

 

We’ve had some great roll calls with a mix of info on ports, tips, answering questions, private excursions, activities to do on board or teams for trivia, Mah Jong, etc.

 

ENJoy   😉
 

 

 

[sammiedawg]

This thread has me laughing.  Many astute observations, especially the one about “referees”  setting down rules and regulations for what the group can talk about.   And if I see anyone trying to “over organize” activities I quit reading.  

 

 But we have had good luck finding private tours and sharing DIY information about ports.  Often it is just a matter of exchanging email addresses with other roll call members and agreeing on some small group tours.  We have met lovely people. 

[CruiserBruce]

4 hours ago, sail7seas said:

 

 

 

 

Not everyone on CC  takes part in roll calls.

 

 

 

Agreed, including ourselves.

[Hlitner]

6 hours ago, Hawaiidan said:

Yes Hank, there are.... I think you mentioned your going to Oceania.... where the whole ship is  like your yacht club...    I am doing 1 last HAL cruise after  a long absence  only because of a very rare and seldom  ever done itinerary .   I have no expectations other than a  hot water, warm food and  a dry bed.    HAL  is fine for what it is, but too many try to want it to be something it  is not and can not be.

I am no longer sure what HAL is...and do not think that HAL even understands what they seek to be.  Please understand we are 5 Star Mariners on that line and have spent many hundreds of wonderful days on their ships all over the world.  I am truly perplexed at some of the recent management decisions on HAL (especially regarding entertainment).  This is a line that has long specialized in longer cruises that attract an older clientele with pretty sophisticated travel tastes.  When you are on a ship for weeks or months, entertainment is a pretty important part of everyday life.  But for some reason HAL has seemingly abandoned the idea of providing a variety of quality entertainment to their passengers.  While some are happy to watch a BBC Nature movie as their main show, many others simply go to bed....very early!  DW really likes those nature movies, but we can watch them in the comfort of our own home where we have a better sound system then many of HAL's older ships.

 

Consider our recent 11 day cruise (back to back with another 10 day cruise) on MSC where they had a different Production Show (with a large cast) on each and every night.   Even on our recent 10 day Celebrity cruise we had a different entertainment program (either Production show or decent Guest Entertainer) on each and every night (including the first and last nights).    HAL will quickly lose market share (and have a lot of empty or very low priced cabins) if they do not quickly fix their entertainment problem.

 

Hank

[sail7seas]

Without doubt, after dinner shows and entertainment are  quite important to some people  but not all of us.

 

 

Through the years, we 

 

did enjoy some shows  on HAL ships but not all that many.

 

One that stands out in my mind   is the Elton John impersonator.  I enjoyed his show.

 

That was some years go but I still remember him

 

 

 

 

Edited June 21, 2019 by sail7seas

[ChinaShrek]

10 hours ago, Cruising-along said:

This has turned me off many roll calls recently.  No interest in DIY at all. 

 

One reason this happens is that if you are booking a private tour, the tour company will tell someone that if they can get 6 (or some other number) people than the price will be less.  If they can get even more people, then the tour will be free for one person.  I emailed a private tour operator in Messina two years ago and they told me to find 6 people on cruisecritic and then contact them once I had.  I was actually a but annoyed by this but want to do a private tour and not a ship tour. 

[kazu]

1 hour ago, ChinaShrek said:

 

One reason this happens is that if you are booking a private tour, the tour company will tell someone that if they can get 6 (or some other number) people than the price will be less.  If they can get even more people, then the tour will be free for one person.  I emailed a private tour operator in Messina two years ago and they told me to find 6 people on cruisecritic and then contact them once I had.  I was actually a but annoyed by this but want to do a private tour and not a ship tour. 

 

The price is always less if you can get more in the van, obviously.

 

But as to free -  There are few companies that do this and they are shared tours and, not private normally.

 

Spain Day Tours is a typical example.

 

Personally, I book private tours and get no compensation for arranging them other than the pleasure of the tour and the flexibility that a true private tour offers.

 

My only exception in more private tours than I can count was one in the Panama where they made me the offer to have a free tour for one or reduce the price for the other.  I chose the latter and asked that the price be reduced and happily told my participants we had a break 😉 

 

I’ll take a good quality tour over a freebie any day and we have enjoyed many 😄 

 

[ChinaShrek]

12 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

The price is always less if you can get more in the van, obviously.

 

But as to free -  There are few companies that do this and they are shared tours and, not private normally.

 

Spain Day Tours is a typical example.

 

Personally, I book private tours and get no compensation for arranging them other than the pleasure of the tour and the flexibility that a true private tour offers.

 

My only exception in more private tours than I can count was one in the Panama where they made me the offer to have a free tour for one or reduce the price for the other.  I chose the latter and asked that the price be reduced and happily told my participants we had a break 😉 

 

I’ll take a good quality tour over a freebie any day and we have enjoyed many 😄 

 

 

I guess my point was that if I wish to book a tour with a private company (private tour) and they ask me to find more passengers then this is why I would go to a Roll Call to shill for more passengers.  Distasteful perhaps, but part of the game.  I would rather the tour operators post in Roll Calls versus me drumming up business for them but that doesn't seem to happen. 

Edited June 22, 2019 by ChinaShrek

[Cruising-along]

1 hour ago, ChinaShrek said:

One reason this happens is that if you are booking a private tour, the tour company will tell someone that if they can get 6 (or some other number) people than the price will be less.

Agreed, this is a big reason.  It just gets very tiresome when it's the only subject discussed on a roll call.  

[Hawaiidan]

39 minutes ago, ChinaShrek said:

 

I guess my point was that if I wish to book a tour with a private company (private tour) and they ask me to find more passengers then this is why I would go to a Roll Call to shill for more passengers.  Distasteful perhaps, but part of the game.  I would rather the tour operators post in Roll Calls versus me drumming up business for them but that doesn't seem to happen. 

Whats wrong with a person who wants to do a tour but that tour requires a minimum number to operate...What option does the person have..  Either find enough people minimum in order to fulfill their wants or forget about it.

I don't think a tour operator or a agent can post here, only a person who personally wants the tour to happen for his enjoyment.   

Case in point  I am going to a remote port and wanted a special tour, I needed 6...  I had the option  of paying  for 6 spaces myself and trying to find people to help. and did not want the size to grow beyond the minimum. 

 

 I paid the tour operator  the fee for all 6 and then went about seeing if I could soften the impact to me.  Whatever I got would be better than nothing and I get to  do this, important to me, tour.     I did this once before  and bought a ticket  but the operator said he would not go unless I had 10 paid tickets,.   Rather than wait and miss out I bought the remaining tickets needed.     Sometimes you have to make hard choices.

 

I see your point, however, in people hawking tours and having money sent to them ... clearly commercial and you  wonder what is their motive/agenda ?   Why the hard sell push to get a big group..whats the payoff ?     

 

 

[caribill]

On 6/20/2019 at 4:24 PM, Hlitner said:

Roll Call activity really varies by cruise.  

 

Booked on two HAL cruises this year.

 

Cruise 1 on a ship with 1258 passengers has 124 passengers on the Cruise Critic roll call, almost 10% of the ship. Very active Roll Call with numerous private excursions set up as well as plans for several on board activities.

 

Cruise 2 is on a ship with 2666 passengers has just 12 represented on the roll call. Nothing organized at all.

 

So, yes, Roll Call activity does vary.

[baggal]

I don't understand the negativity toward people who are looking to share private tours through the roll call.  Isn't that the point - to have the ability to meet fellow passengers on your specific cruise?  "China Shrek," you may not be aware that travel agents and tour guides are prohibited from posting on Cruise Critic. HAL is a mass market cruise line which appeals to passengers with varying interests and budgets.  And even if you're not particularly budget minded, some people just prefer a small group experience over the 40 passenger bus tour.  If you find it distasteful, no one is forcing you to participate.

[cowmilker]

1 hour ago, baggal said:

I don't understand the negativity toward people who are looking to share private tours through the roll call.  Isn't that the point - to have the ability to meet fellow passengers on your specific cruise?  "China Shrek," you may not be aware that travel agents and tour guides are prohibited from posting on Cruise Critic. HAL is a mass market cruise line which appeals to passengers with varying interests and budgets.  And even if you're not particularly budget minded, some people just prefer a small group experience over the 40 passenger bus tour.  If you find it distasteful, no one is forcing you to participate.

 

Finding private tours at a reasonable cost is, for me, the main attraction of the whole roll call thing.  Not only do we save money by doing this, we also get a better tour (smaller), and we meet people. On longer cruises, sometimes we're on multiple tours with the same people.  

I have never felt badgered or pressured to participate in any private tour. If I'm not interested (for instance, if we're electing to simply DIY in some port), I just ignore those posts.  Nobody begs. They just post the information and you're free to join a tour or not.

9 hours ago, Hawaiidan said:

Case in point  I am going to a remote port and wanted a special tour, I needed 6...  I had the option  of paying  for 6 spaces myself and trying to find people to help. and did not want the size to grow beyond the minimum. 

 

I'm looking at the possibility of doing exactly that right now.  Honestly, it makes little difference to me if anyone joins us or not. If they do, that's great. If they don't, well, that's okay too.  But I put the option out there because there could easily be, for example, a single traveler who really would like to visit A, but doesn't feel comfortable doing it on their own.

In my personal opinion, this one thing (the ability to find other passengers way ahead of time and make plans for these private excursions) is one of the major benefits of Cruise Critic, right up there at the top.

[sail7seas]

On 6/20/2019 at 9:57 PM, bcummin said:

Each HAL Roll Call is different.  Some groups work better than others.  Some leaders are exceptional.  Problems were caused by people more interested in filling private tours than exchanging useful port information.  Good Roll Calls can still happen.  Ours last winter were superb.

Barbara

 

 

 

some roll call leaders have no  n otion ab out 'inclusive leading' and  go way too far in ' taking ov er,'     IMO   HAL sets the rules, "they" do not   

 

 

 

they  totally  turn off some people,(  comments I have heard spoken read  written,  ).

 

 

 

 

 

 

[sail7seas]

13 hours ago, ChinaShrek said:

 

One reason this happens is that if you are booking a private tour, the tour company will tell someone that if they can get 6 (or some other number) people than the price will be less.  If they can get even more people, then the tour will be free for one person.  I emailed a private tour operator in Messina two years ago and they told me to find 6 people on cruisecritic and then contact them once I had.

 

and there in is the 'explaination' for the eager  recruitment to the roll  calls ?  (-:)  maybe?

 

 

Quote

 

  I was actually a but annoyed by this but want to do a private tour and not a ship tour. 

 

Edited June 22, 2019 by sail7seas

[bcummin]

3 hours ago, baggal said:

I don't understand the negativity toward people who are looking to share private tours through the roll call.  Isn't that the point - to have the ability to meet fellow passengers on your specific cruise?  

 

Maybe I was too blunt.  Private tours are an important PART of a good roll call.  I remember when roll calls concentrated on sharing port information and getting to know each other.  Now too many people think that the whole point is to join private tours.  Some even join a roll call pointing out that they are hoping to join private tours.  No intention to research and share in the work, just take advantage of the others.  Too many  roll calls have become private tour exchanges, forgetting that there is so much more to enjoy.  We find it important to learn which ports are good to do on our own, which have good private tours, and which are better enjoyed with HAL tours.

Barbara

[Cruising-along]

2 minutes ago, bcummin said:

 

Maybe I was too blunt.  Private tours are an important PART of a good roll call.  I remember when roll calls concentrated on sharing port information and getting to know each other.  Now too many people think that the whole point is to join private tours.  Some even join a roll call pointing out that they are hoping to join private tours.  No intention to research and share in the work, just take advantage of the others.  Too many  roll calls have become private tour exchanges, forgetting that there is so much more to enjoy.  We find it important to learn which ports are good to do on our own, which have good private tours, and which are better enjoyed with HAL tours.

Barbara

You said it so much better than I could, so I'm quoting you 🙂  This is exactly how I feel.  

For example, I just looked at one of the 5 roll calls I'm on now.  Out of 28 posts on the last two pages, 21 of them were about getting people to sign up with a private tour.  When anyone does mention anything about DIY or port information, it seems to fall on deaf ears. This is typical of all my roll calls.  I don't know anything about anyone on these roll calls other than the fact that they want to join private tours.  

 

I can remember many good roll calls, and still am very good friends with many people from those roll calls.  But we got to know each other first.

 

 

 

 

[Tampa Girl]

2 hours ago, sail7seas said:

 

 

 

some roll call leaders have no  n otion ab out 'inclusive leading' and  go way too far in ' taking ov er,'     IMO   HAL sets the rules, "they" do not   

 

 

 

they  totally  turn off some people,(  comments I have heard spoken read  written,  ).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Actually, it is CC that sets the roll call rules, not HAL.  M&G rules, OTOH, are set by HAL or by good taste.  And it was always a no-no to spend time in a M&G sponsored by HAL and at which officers were present, talking about private tours.  That appears to have gone by the wayside since HAL officers are not usually at the functions any more.

[caribill]

33 minutes ago, Tampa Girl said:

 

Actually, it is CC that sets the roll call rules, not HAL.  M&G rules, OTOH, are set by HAL or by good taste.  And it was always a no-no to spend time in a M&G sponsored by HAL and at which officers were present, talking about private tours.  That appears to have gone by the wayside since HAL officers are not usually at the functions any more.

 

From the HAL viewpoint, the cruise contract says "You shall not solicit other Guests for commercial purposes or advertise goods or services without Carrier's prior written permission. You may be disembarked without liability for refund, payment, compensation or credit of any kind if You or any Guest for whom You are responsible violate any of these requirements, and agree to assume and/or reimburse Carrier for any expenses or fines that may be incurred as a result of such noncompliance."

 

 

So trying to get additional people to join a private tour is against the HAL rules as would be collecting money for those already on a tour you arranged.

 

Talking about an independent tour that you are already a part of is not against any HAL policy.