What is a Cruise Roll Call, Cabin Crawl and Meet-Up?

A majority of cruisers have heard the terms "Roll Call", "Cruise Critic" and "Meet and Mingle"- but not everyone is sure what this means. After 8 cruises I participated in my first Cruise Critic meet up in March of this year. The most popular site for passenger meet ups is Cruise Critic, where cruisers can find their cruise ship and date of travel and sign up to be part of the virtual group. There is usually a passenger or two who start the "Roll Call" and facilitate activities on board for everyone. This passenger prearranges a "Meet and Mingle" type event, as well as other activities such as Q&A with the officers, a slot pull, a coffee and cake meetup mid cruise, a cabin crawl or a dinner meet up. You do not have to participate in all of the events either. Each cruise line is different too. As I partook in the Norwegian Cruise Critic meet up, our coordinator was Gardiner, and he did an amazing job planning events-like the Q&A Meet and Greet with the officers and staff. It was fabulous to meet the senior officers and head chef!  :) In this case the Roll Call coordinator did receive some perks for setting up the Q&A, Meet Ups, etc. However, this is not a guarantee so only take charge of a roll call if you want to coordinate the events without expectation of perks, like suite dining privileges or priority port debarkation. The on board meet ups are a great way to meet fellow passengers-and single cruisers often find new friends to dine with and hang out with during the cruise as well. 

So are you interested in joining a Roll Call? To begin the process go to Cruise Critic to check out the events for your upcoming cruise-  http://www.cruisecritic.com/rollcalls/
You do need to be a member of the Cruise Critic forums to add your name to the Roll Call or post- but this is free and easy to do! Another site with passenger Roll Calls is Cruiseline.com- you can check their site out here-https://cruiseline.com/rollcall 
Royal Caribbean offers a "Meet and Mingle" with the Cruise Critic site- you can find information on how to sign up here- http://www.royalcaribbean.com/customersupport/faq/details.do?pagename=frequently_asked_questions&faqId=210&faqSubjectId=343


My personal experience participating in a Cruise Critic meet up was positive and I appreciated meeting the senior officers and staff. Everyone working on the NCL Pearl was extremely dedicated to improving the customer experience and hearing passenger's thoughts. A few folks used the opportunity to complain to the staff about personal issues they have with their cruising experience-so that would be the only negative issue with the staff/officer meetup/Q&A. However, the vast majority of cruisers were happy and personable. I enjoyed hearing tips from others as to cruises they have been on and seeing a few cabins. The Cabin Crawl did not fit in our schedule but I did get to see some fellow CC member's cabins and then I took them to see our wonderful cabin. That is essentially what a Cabin Crawl is- an arranged meet up for cruisers to walk the ship and see one each others cabins. This is a fun and interesting activity as new cruisers can check out the various cabin types and decks for future cruises. Although there are plenty of photos online, seeing the cabins in person is extremely helpful. For example, I did not realize how large some of the indoor cabins on the NCL Pearl were until I actually saw them. :)

Have you participated in any Roll Calls? Do you plan to? Please share your experience!