BermudaBound2014

Or highly motivated to increase future bookings 😉

That would work if you are just using the AARP gift cards to buy OBC, but I use them to pay my entire cruise. I need to expose myself to the risk at final payment. 10% of a 10,000 trip is $1,000 savings which is worth the risk to me, especially that close to sailing. I’m sure most people are aware that you can also purchase AARP gift cards while you are physically onboard and walk the virtual cards to guest services where they will be applied immediately :).

Edited to add: My point is that no matter how small the risk is, gift cards ALWAYS come with some risk. I’m not necessarily risk intolerant, but in the case of Hal gift cards mediating the risk is fairly simple, so why not?

Not quite. I wasn’t solely referring to stock price. But that’s ok, neither one of us will likely know the entire rational of why HAL is offering these low deposits. Last year they offered the $1 deposit 3 (maybe 4) times so it’s obviously working to achieve whatever the goal HAL has set.

I realize this post is not going to be popular, but I want to offer a gentle reminder that there are zero consumer protections with gift cards. Should something happen to the company, the gift cards become worthless. As in, zero value. Likely not covered under any CC or insurance policy either as solvency is exempt That isn’t to say that I don’t purchase and use HAL gift cards, but I do so at the very last minute. I have cruises booked in 2025 and 2026 and I wouldn’t dream of purchasing gift cards this far in advance. There are work arounds to the 5 gift card limit per month so that you can purchase all the gift cards needed to pay off a cruise during the month of final payment. As always, feel free to ignore anything I type. Just putting that reminder out there for folks who may not be aware.

Yet Revenue projections are based on future bookings. I would agree that if the total effect of the $1 deposits was to lower future revenue, then HAL would likely stop these promotions entirely. However; I do not discount the power of said revenue projections and suggest that increasing future bookings adds substantial value for the company. We will likely never know how many who book under the$1 deposit actually cancel, but I suspect it’s a number acceptable to the bean counters. Somewhere between everyone and nobody.

It’s likely all the bean counters at HAL have done their homework and offering these low deposits ‘work’. What we don’t know is their definition of ‘work’. I have always suspected these low deposits are a way to inflate future booking numbers so that when CCL reports their quarterlies to the SEC the future looks bright. The last SEC report looked all nice a rosy on the surface but if you dig deeper it’s obvious that debt continues to be a very serious problem. Their revenue maybe showing higher but their expenses are tied to inflation and energy pricing. Not to mention, with long term debt at nearly 30 Billion, the interest only payments are brutal. CCL can’t afford to report lower future bookings to the SEC at the next quarterly. Perhaps the dollar deposits do bring in future passengers (who actually sail), but it doesn’t hurt the company to report that their 2026 bookings are at ‘record levels’.

Aloha SilverSweatheart :). We just spent a day upcountry admiring your gorgeous jacaranda trees in bloom. Such a lovely part of the island you call home. Just a FYI, it looks like Home Made Bakery decided to close after all. There was talk of closing, then not closing, but this article published yesterday states they changed their minds again and will close at the end of this month. https://mauinow.com/2024/04/18/home-maid-bakery-to-close-its-lower-main-street-location-on-april-29-potential-partnership-is-in-the-works/ ,

Thanks Mary~ Did you have issues with uniformity of excellence? I was very pleased with the standard of service onboard. There was a bit of service inconsistencies (most complaints appeared to be in the MDR which I didn’t attend). There were a few misses with room service and I did get a glass of ice dumped on my head while I was sleeping in my playpen, but other than that, I thought service was outstanding :-). About the ice incident. It was a total accident and my guy was literally in shock! That could have happened regardless of training. I took it like a champ, assuring him that I needed to wake up anyway (and have witnesses that I was more concerned about the young mans ego than I was about my abrupt waking @Rhonda and Keith haha). I’m just thankful he didn’t dump a glass of ice on some of the CrankyMcCrankisters I saw around the ship who would have most certainly went after his job, or asked for OBC ;-) But here’s the thing. This young man (who will remain nameless just in case someone wants to be a jerk about the dumping) was going above and beyond in service when he had the little ooopsy. Since I had the same playpen daily he learned that I liked Arnold Palmers. In this instance, he was bringing ice to my Arnold Palmer so that when I woke up the drink would be fresh and cold! How Sweet Is That???? He and I are social media friends now and we will forever laugh about the time he woke me up from a leisure nap by dousing me in an ice bath :). When I compare the service on HAL to the service we received on Carnival and NCL just a month prior, HAL’s service was significantly better. More servers walk around offering drinks (that was non-existent on carnival). Sure there were instances in busy venues that it was difficult to get a drink, but I am more concerned about the amount of watering down that HAL is doing to the drinks than I am about waiting an extra 20 minutes. I’m not a huge drinker. One evening I polished off three gin/tonics pretty quickly. On land I would have been seriously impaired. Onboard, I felt the tiny tiniest of a buzz. It happened several times. I actually stopped consuming alcoholic drinks because I could keep drinking (and drinking) with the only measurable result being the calories were making fat. By the end of the trip it was wine or beer for this girl. Back to service: My cabin stewards serviced the cabin twice daily (no longer the case on carnival or ncl). They were exceptional. I told them they did not have to do towel animals for me nightly and they insisted! I got chocolates on my pillows (was that a function of it being a legendary cruise or are all HAL cruises getting chocolate?) Also, the service in the lido was exceptional for me. I sat on the opposite side of the line that was open and, again, got to know the same person daily. He always had my drink ready and that guy would have gotten me anything from the buffet had I asked. I guess my super long winded point is that with or without the service excellence program, I would rank service on HAL a solid 9/10, especially when compared to NCL and Carnival. I did not see anything service related that I thought needed serious revision. I do believe that they need to bring back the uniformity of excellence training when it comes to programing onboard entertainment. Lack of physically active and fun things to do (especially with those long stretches of sea days) was really the only area I thought in need of significant revision. If HAL wants to grab the attention of the soon to be retired Gen Xers, they need to rid themselves of their reputation as a cruise line for the elderly. And note that, imo, elderly isn’t a number~ it’s a mindset.

Take a look at how these last minute prices compare with the $49 offer HAL recently launched. For those able to travel last minute, it appears that often it’s better to just book direct and pick your cabin and KNOW you are traveling, sometimes weeks in advance.

I thought Grant came from Royal? I swore we talked about rhapsody of the seas. Although come to think of it he did mention Disney wasn’t a good fit for him due to all the kids. I suppose he could come from both Disney and Royal. I have never sailed Disney but the Royal playmakers do an excellent job!! Entertainment is one area where HAL falls way short when compared to other main stream lines. It’s evident entertainment isn’t a priority given the size of grants team (3) is tiny compared to others with activity staffs over 10. Where Hal excels is itinerary at an excellent price point. I know that’s why I sail with them.

Hi Annie!! Thanks for the info. Two questions, who the heck is Emma and how does she still have a job? I vote for everyone getting out of Grants way and letting him run the entertainment!!

All that is very true. Indeed. No argument from me. Lots of people sail HAL for the subdued atmosphere, hence their reputation.

The navigator app never worked off the ship for me, but all the port agent info was supplied in a separate half sheet of paper and left on my bed the night before a port. It was easy enough to tuck in my backpack. I thought this system worked well because it was so easy to carry. One thing I forgot to mention in my survey (kicking myself) is the lack of use of the stateroom TV to broadcast all the happenings of the ship so that I could watch in the evening before bed. Not once did I get to listen to the cruise directors port talks because the world stage would fill LONG before the scheduled event. Not to mention those were held at inconvenient times for me. Why not rebroadcast the port talks so we can tune in whenever? It’s possible the music and step one dance is copyrighted, but all other ship activities are most certainly fair game. The technology exists because they were able to rebroadcast the crew talent show. Every other ship I have been on in the last couple decades has provided this service to their guests. Why K’dam didn’t is beyond me. In the same line of thinking, why not have the photographers walk around the ship filming clips of all the activities and rebroadcast that on the tv? IMO, Hal left lots of money on the table by not videotaping the hula/ukulele concert put on by guests. Slap that on an .89cent flash drive and sell it for $49.99. There would have been takers. Even I may have purchased a flash drive of snippets from the entire cruise including port stops. It’s not like the company isn’t 28 Billion dollars in debt ;-). This is one revenue generator that I think would go over well with guests and I offer the idea free of royalties 🙂

Yep, Grant was a 10+, born to be in front of crowds with a mic. So warm, welcoming, and inclusive. He really had a positive impact on my cruise. I’m still a little miffed that dance class was cut short 2 days early because Grant was needed in the world stage. Sure, the world stage was a great presentation, but couldn’t dance class have been offered sometime in the 9-10 hour block? After Tai Chi but before the “life at sea’ presentation? If you added in the folks participating in the balconies, dance class had to be approaching 100 participants and it was the ONLY activity offered for those of us who want a little more high energy. I get that Grant is only one person and can’t be everywhere, but there has to be a work around besides cutting out an activity that had such high attendance. Again, a scheduling blunder. Regarding movies at the lido. I do agree that during the day would be invasive on all the folks enjoying the pool. But why not throw on some music videos? That large screen showed a drop of water for 35 days (well there was some gold chain thing too for variety). I asked every single day in the app for music to be played in the lido. If only for a couple hours. If not the lido, then the sea view. Offer one pool with a bit livelier atmosphere. I do understand that on this particular cruise that might have been difficult since the majority of passengers likely grew up without MTV, but every generation likes music. Again, not both pools. Leave one for those who want silence. If HAL wants to rid itself of the decade old ugly stereotype of the cruise line for the “newlywed and nearly dead” then they need to pay attention to those of us who are asking for more energy. Somewhere we can find a compromise between radio silence and Guns and Roses. Oh, about the speakers. I did notice one speaker was blown. Easy enough to fix. Nearly every other cruise ship I have been on in the last decade has had movies/music videos at the lido with no sound issues. Since every single movie that was shown at the lido was also available on stateroom TV, the lack of movies wasn’t a copywright issue. I get that movies at the pool require more staff and I am the last person who wants to make more work for the crew, but HAL really should address the lack of space issue that the Kdam design created. Seems easy enough to press play every night; again a scheduling issue. I would like to know who was in charge of scheduling events. Based on the conversation @anniegb had with Kristin, it wasn’t the cruise director. So who was it? Typically it is the cruise director but apparently not on this cruise. I hope they can learn from our surveys because my requests in the app went no where. After ignoring my 22nd request for some light music during the day, I think they would have preferred it if I volunteered to walk the plank. 🙂 Finally, these are certainly first world gripes. I mention them here to help prepare future cruisers for what they might encounter, and I mentioned them in the survey (and app) to help HAL better meet the needs of the up and coming population of cruisers. Make no mistake; the good far outweighed the bad. I had an AMAZING journey on the K’dam. Largely due to all the relationships I was able to form with like minded travelers and the incredible places we visited. Most importantly, I most certainly made life long friends and that trumps listening to Bon Jovi at the lido.