HAL's Officers are not Interchangeable

[Pettifogger]

My experience has been that some officers on HAL in crucial positions can make a very substantial difference in the success of my cruises, usually the Dining Room Manager and the Guest Relations Manager, but unfortunately, I can't usually find out who they are going to be before final payment date, so I have to commit myself in the dark.

 

I don't expect to get one of my favorites other than by chance, but I do think guests should be given an opportunity to avoid a particular officer with whom they have already had a run-in. After all, we do not go on cruises to renew unpleasant acquaintanceships.

 

I'd like to suggest that, when booking a cruise, prospective passengers should be allowed to designate one HAL officer with whom they do not wish to sail. In the event that the designated officer is thereafter assigned to the booked cruise, the passenger would have the option to cancel with a full refund even beyond the final payment date.

 

I think it would be relatively rare that a passenger would have to make such a designation, because it would only be needed in situations where the prior run-in was so unpleasant that the guest is determined never to have to deal with that officer again and, therefore, hesitates to book another cruise in the dark. It would be still rarer that, after making the designation, the passenger would happen to get that particular officer on their cruise and have to cancel.

 

In the absence of such a right, with officers moving from ship to ship late in the booking period, prospective passengers might have to give up HAL altogether rather than risk booking a cruise they might find very unpleasant.

 

The designations would not affect an officer's evaluations in any way because they are useless for that purpose. The range of psychopathologies among passengers is probably considerably wider than among the officers, because the passengers are screened only for solvency, so the officer is less likely to have been at fault than the passenger. A better officer might be designated by an irresponsible passenger while a less effective, but more permissive, officer would not be. And some officers have assignments that by their very nature would draw more designations than other assignments either continually or at special stress times.

 

The Guest Satisfaction Surveys and Let Us Know complaints provide detail about the nature of any problems with an officer's performance and the designations would not, so trying to use the unexplained designations as an evaluation tool would be a waste of time.

 

One unintended beneficial side effect of the proposal would be that many of the "hair-trigger" passengers, who spend large portions of their cruise either whining at the front desk or composing Let Us Know complaints in their cabins, will feel better if they mistakenly believe that they have successfully retaliated against the "worst officer" on that cruise by designating him or her for their next cruise and they might even book their next cruise faster so they can designate sooner.

 

The designations would have only one use, to allow passengers who are reluctant to re-book because of a unfortunate past officer-passenger experience to go ahead and book with HAL, which would benefit the passenger, would benefit HAL and would even benefit the designated officer, who would no longer have to be concerned that he or she might have deprived HAL of one or more bookings. After all, the goal is getting as many as possible of the prospective passengers who want to sail on HAL, onto the ships.

 

I realize that it's not easy for a cruise line to admit that every one of its seagoing officers is not irresistibly likeable, but, in fact, a few officers and a few passengers are not going to like each other very much and, rarely, an officer and a passenger may come to dislike each other intensely, which will not spoil their future cruises IF THEY ARE ON DIFFERENT SHIPS, which is what I propose.

[Jade13]

I don't expect to get one of my favorites other than by chance, but I do think guests should be given an opportunity to avoid a particular officer with whom they have already had a run-in. After all, we do not go on cruises to renew unpleasant acquaintanceships.

 

I'd like to suggest that, when booking a cruise, prospective passengers should be allowed to designate one HAL officer with whom they do not wish to sail. In the event that the designated officer is thereafter assigned to the booked cruise, the passenger would have the option to cancel with a full refund even beyond the final payment date.

 

I think it would be relatively rare that a passenger would have to make such a designation, because it would only be needed in situations where the prior run-in was so unpleasant that the guest is determined never to have to deal with that officer again and, therefore, hesitates to book another cruise in the dark.

 

This will never happen. Btw, do you care to tell us what happened that was so unpleasant that it would cause you to cancel a cruise if you could????

[Krazy Kruizers]

We book cruises anywhere from 1 year to 1 1/2 years in advance. There is no way that HAL could tell us -- or anyone else for that matter -- who the HM, dining room manager, captain, etc., would be on our cruises.

But it is rare when we have had the same captain on the same ship, HM on same ship, etc. There are so many new ones with the retirement of old staff.

I am assuming that you had a bad experience on a recent cruise from the way you are writing this thread. I hope that you do have a more pleasant experience on your nest cruise.

Yes -- we had an incident on a cruise -- but we don't worry about seeing this person -- if we do -- we do. That's Life.

[Atomica]

If I read this correctly, there seems to be an officer or member of the crew you don't wish to sail with again?

 

Setting a system up like the one you propose would be a logistics nightmare, and frankly something that is probably at the bottom of their list of priorities.

 

IMHO, the officers and crew conduct themselves better than some of the passengers. Which is why I always ask to be seated in the 'no griping' section of the dining room ;)

 

Bottom line is, if there's an Officer you can't stand, either try contacting HAL before final payment, or roll the dice and if that person is there, try to handle it as best as possible. They're not going to re-jig their whole reservations system over it.

[MightyQuinn]

I agree that HAL officers are not interchangeable, but to my mind, they shouldn't be. I also agree that senior officers can make a huge difference in your overall cruise enjoyment. We've only had positive experiences thus far but I can appreciate the other side. But to be given the opportunity to opt out of a cruise because a certain HAL officer is on board? You're kidding right?

[sapper1]

Popcorn thread alert:eek:

[PennyAgain]

Do you think that the officer in question is likely to remember you amongst thousands of passengers?

 

He might only if YOU were really the problem.

[Boytjie]

And if HAL does not implement this plan and you move to another cruise line the same thing will happen there too. :rolleyes:

[serendipity1499]

I think this post was meant to be tongue in cheek...:D:D:D:D

Cheers....:)Betty

[silverado44]

I have never cared who the officers were on any of my cruises. I've never had a bad experience. I think if you feel the way you do, you might have been the problem. My advice: Don't have romantic flings with officers and you will not have to face one that you you are upset with and have to avoid.

[bermuda triangle]

I wonder if the officers feel the same way? Maybe they could get a list of problem passengers beforehand and they could opt to go on a different ship as well or they could have the passengers moved to another ship and let their colleagues have to deal with them.:eek:

Laura

[DougandEric]

I don't care who the officers are going to be as they have very little bearing on my enjoying a cruise. So long as the ship gets to where it is supposed to be safely, and the staff I interact with are doing their jobs, I'm happy. Many people think the CD is crucial to their cruise but I don't. The only time I had a CD I didn't care for was on Princess and he's still going strong - many love him but to me he was an egotistical hyper little chiuaua that I couldn't stand. After figuring this out, I just avoided anything he had to do with and since the shows aren't important to me, that was easy!:D I find the hotel manager or dining room manager far more important than the CD. BTW, the aforementioned CD told us he was 5th in line to drive the ship if need be - heaven forbid (and he was serious!) I'd jump overboard if it came to that but then I think we'd be going down anyway so it would be a short jump.

 

My 2 cents.

 

Doug

[IRL_Joanie]

Popcorn thread alert:eek:

 

LOL My Thoughts Also!!!:D:D

 

Joanie

[Randyk47]

I don't care who the officers are going to be as they have very little bearing on my enjoying a cruise. So long as the ship gets to where it is supposed to be safely, and the staff I interact with are doing their jobs, I'm happy.

 

My 2 cents.

 

Doug

 

I'll add 2 cents to that statement so make it 4 cents. I couldn't name an officer or key staff member on any cruise even under threat of pain. :) Can't imagine getting sideways with one of them but I guess it's possible. Oh well.......

[CtheW0rld]

this is one of the silliest ideas i've ever heard proposed.

[kelleherdl]

I find this proposal completely reasonable. I routinely call my local Food Lion before I go shopping to make sure that a particular produce manager is not on duty. :D

 

Dennis

[bobalink]

Seriously???????:confused:

[tjcox9]

I wonder if the officers feel the same way? Maybe they could get a list of problem passengers beforehand and they could opt to go on a different ship as well or they could have the passengers moved to another ship and let their colleagues have to deal with them.:eek:

Laura

 

As a four star Mariner perk, I also want a list of all passengers on board as well as entertainers to make sure there is no one on board that I don't have to "rub elbows" with (make that avoid in the buffet line) or shows I need to avoid.

 

How about a little spontaneity folks???????????

 

[peaches from georgia]

I find this proposal completely reasonable. I routinely call my local Food Lion before I go shopping to make sure that a particular produce manager is not on duty. :D

 

Dennis[/quote\

I knew you were from NC the minute I saw the Food Lion. Used to live in Wilmington and Winston. :)

[Copper10-8]

I wonder if the officers feel the same way? Maybe they could get a list of problem passengers beforehand and they could opt to go on a different ship as well or they could have the passengers moved to another ship and let their colleagues have to deal with them.:eek:

Laura

 

Ha!:D (those lists already exist)

[bermuda triangle]

Ha!:D (those lists already exist)

I know..ships manifest, but I'm pretty sure officers aren't like..OMG Mr. and Mrs. Big Mouth are onboard the Zuiderdam on Aug. 19th sailing..I better check the manifest for the Oosterdam and see if I can transfer ships! ;)

 

Or is that is how they offer the overbooked ship..care to take a different date cruise..we will heavily discount it (so our Beverage Manager doesn't have to deal with you again) if you sail on a different date.:D

 

LOL

Laura

[fcorey]

I wonder if the officers feel the same way? Maybe they could get a list of problem passengers beforehand...

 

LOL, I would be willing to bet that when the manifest is sent to the ship there are certain names they are "aware" of....

[doncarlos]

Ha!:D (those lists already exist)[/quote]

 

yes they do, but go carry this funny line one step further : those on cc go gmapajama and see who is on their cruise and can designate once per annum that they have " issues " [[[ love that word ]]] with XWZ so they want off and HAL says ok ..full refund but you must [ a ] rebook within 12 months and [ b ] promise to never ever say anything mean or nasty , even sarcastic , again on cc board !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

well, hope you thought that funny as intended so don't flame , just chuckel ...............we need more of that

[Bill S]

You can't be serious, can you? What a totally unmanageable, unworkable idea. Where is Dr. Phil when we need him?

I would much rather sail with difficult officers (not that I've met any) than with difficult passengers (I've met a few of those).

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

I read the original post so many times that I was going stir crazy. Could hardly believe it. Like others, officers on the ships don't influence my cruise experience. I don't even think about them - I don't cruise to socialize with the officers, I just want them to do their jobs. I hope the post is really a late April Fool. Makes no sense to me.