Player Engagement Help

Hello all. I've been running a Seafaring DND campaign and im having trouble with player engagement. For example last session I had a scene where the previous NPC captain was stepping down and was trying to get the crew to vote for a new captain amongstthe Party. This did not turn out well. I believe the problem is that the player simply do not like the type of role play heavy game I run. I also know the solution is to simply be upfront and ask them how they feel about this campaign. So what I what help from you lovely people is: what do I ask them to gauge their interest/feelings on dnd and how they would like to play going forward.

-Thank you!!