HAL is starting to lose me

[jaguarstyper]

This is a re-positioning of HAL in the cruise world to a different value proposition. There is nothing inherently wrong with this change, you just have to decide if it works for you or not.

Bingo! And I think this is the essence of the spirit of this thread. I don't see it so much as just complaining, but discussing all the reasons why HAL's re-positioning may or may not work for you.

[Bearnaise]

Shall we go back to eating moose nose, which was considered a delicacy at the time that lobster was shunned? :eek:

They're serving moose nose in the MDR now? Awesome!

[sapper1]

I do not agree. Why should liver be acceptable at a fancy meal only as pate? Personally, I think pate is a waste of good liver and would much prefer it to be well prepared as liver & onions.

 

For a long time lobster was considered trash catch, only suitable for the servants meals. Things change. There is no reason not to serve liver, meatloaf or pasties on the good china at fancy meals.

 

In the old days in Charlotte County, New Brunswick, lobster was spread in the fields as fertiliser. It was said you could tell the rich kids from the poor kids at school because the rich kids had bologna sandwiches while the poorer kids were stuck with lobster.

[Wakepatrol]

In the old days in Charlotte County, New Brunswick, lobster was spread in the fields as fertiliser. It was said you could tell the rich kids from the poor kids at school because the rich kids had bologna sandwiches while the poorer kids were stuck with lobster.

 

 

All day long I'd biddy biddy bum

[Bearnaise]

In the old days in Charlotte County, New Brunswick, lobster was spread in the fields as fertiliser. It was said you could tell the rich kids from the poor kids at school because the rich kids had bologna sandwiches while the poorer kids were stuck with lobster.

And Brunswick stew?

[Willem Ruys]

I'm somewhat mystified by most of the posts to this thread. I've got 320 days of sailing on HAL and there is no question that it has dropped considerably in quality. Many of the posts to this thread seem to be whining about some specific service that seems to be less available or more expensive than previously. I guess we all could find something to complain about, but the fact is that the prices have dropped even more than the service. This is a re-positioning of HAL in the cruise world to a different value proposition. There is nothing inherently wrong with this change, you just have to decide if it works for you or not. We also cruise quite a bit on Silversea and there's no doubt it is way better than HAL, but also more expensive. We look forward to both cruises and have fun either way. At under $100 per night on the Dolphin deck, what do you expect? It's actually a good deal even if you pay for water at dinner or a thermal suite or whatever else turns you on. I don't understand why paying for water should become some sort of major issue for people. Buy it or don't--it's your choice and figure out if it's worth it to you. But please don't lose any sleep over it. You're having an experience most people in the world will never get--- chill out and enjoy it.

 

On a forum where I am always amazed at how strong is the sense of entitlement I am so pleased to see your post. You are correct! I, too, wish there were a "LIKE" button! Cruises have never been cheaper. The $299 lead in rate I was offered today for a 7 night cruise translates to $40.68 in 1964 dollars...and since I started sailing as a kid in 1956 I have seen PLENTY of price drops!

[mamaofami]

It's sad to see how many issues there on so many of the HAL ships. I'm not talking about staff cutbacks or food in the dining room, but rather about toilet and air conditioning and furniture and cushions getting old and not being replaced. Then there's the sewage smells reported. I now have a list of HAL ships that I won't consider sailing on.

 

By the way, I LOVE liver and onions. One of my favorite childhood meals.

[mariner]

Well the S class is for sale. So much for any updating there.

 

I think HAL is hamstrung by its ships in competing in the mass-market market. Not enough cabins for deep discounts. Not enough extra tariff restaurants. Allowing booze to come aboard only makes it worse.

 

Once they shed the S class, add the Pinnacle shiips, they might be better off. But the days of traditional HAL have long since sailed.

 

There are alternatives. Can't forget the look on a guy's face on a beach in Antgua. He was a Celebrity pax and asked what ship we were on. We told him Seabourn. He wanted to know how many passengers. We told him less than 400. And did we mention you could have caviar whenever you wanted, at no additional charge?

[cruisemom42]

And Brunswick stew?

 

Now, now. Brunswick stew is actually a Southern dish, created in Brunswick Georgia, not too far from where I grew up.

 

It's said that the original version favored squirrel meat, but my favorite modern versions use pulled pork.

[tcook052]

Having sailed several mass market cruise lines I don't feel HAL nickel and dimes me any more than the others. That is just MHO and I still put them at the top of my lists when considering another cruise as I find them a good value.

[Salacia]

I'm somewhat mystified by most of the posts to this thread. I've got 320 days of sailing on HAL and there is no question that it has dropped considerably in quality. Many of the posts to this thread seem to be whining about some specific service that seems to be less available or more expensive than previously. I guess we all could find something to complain about, but the fact is that the prices have dropped even more than the service. This is a re-positioning of HAL in the cruise world to a different value proposition. There is nothing inherently wrong with this change, you just have to decide if it works for you or not. We also cruise quite a bit on Silversea and there's no doubt it is way better than HAL, but also more expensive. We look forward to both cruises and have fun either way. At under $100 per night on the Dolphin deck, what do you expect? It's actually a good deal even if you pay for water at dinner or a thermal suite or whatever else turns you on. I don't understand why paying for water should become some sort of major issue for people. Buy it or don't--it's your choice and figure out if it's worth it to you. But please don't lose any sleep over it. You're having an experience most people in the world will never get--- chill out and enjoy it.

 

Mekka, that is certainly an interesting first post.

[Ship's Wake]

 

But the days of traditional HAL have long since sailed.

 

 

Agree 100%.

 

Either we can accept the new HAL in its current form, switch to a cruise line that has the standards we enjoy, or choose another vacation/travel option.

 

Complaining and moaning will get us nowhere.

[Flyingfish]

HAL has always been our favorite line. However, we've tried almost all lines just to compare - 21 cruises. The next cruise is on the QM2. HAL has left NYC seemingly for good, and we're getting older and fly less. Crossing the pond, cruising countries and returning across the pond on the same ship "rings our bells." And, HAL, you've changed very much since our first cruise aboard your ships. Not always for the best unfortunately.

[cruising cockroach]

I suspect HAL is counting on its loyalist who man bemoan cutbacks but do nothing other than to book more cruises before they've even finished sailing what they've already booked. Uncritical inelastic demand is great, until the amount of demand disappears, but then again HAL/Carnival mgmt probably hope that they've got their bonuses way before the bottom line starts to be impacted.

 

For me, HAL is perfectly acceptable when I'm paying less than 1/3 the launch price. Not worth anything more.

 

If they take away take onboard wine, I'm gone (to the freighters), unless I can get a verandah cabin for ..... a lot less than $60 pppd. :D

[Cruisinetta]

They lost me a long time ago. :)

[Jimmy Geegitz]

I have been a huge fan of HAL for the last 10 years and 11 cruises. But, with the recent trend in charging additional for things and diminishing levels of service are starting to make me second guess them. One of the things I always liked about cruising is the all-inclusive nature of it. I realize HAL still represents a good value considering the fares, but I really am not a fan of all the nickel and diming that they are going to.

 

I have 2 more cruises booked on HAL, but I think the one following that, I'm going to seriously start looking at the competition. Something I have not really done much of over the last 10 years since my first HAL cruise. I do not care much for what HAL appears to becoming. These next two cruises will help me decide where I will be spending my future cruising dollars, and it very well might not be with HAL.

 

Any suggestions?

 

 

It's funny. You find this post almost exactly word for word on all the different cruislines forums. I think people just get bored with sailing the same line all the time.

[Himself]

HAL has always been our favorite line. However, we've tried almost all lines just to compare - 21 cruises. The next cruise is on the QM2. HAL has left NYC seemingly for good, and we're getting older and fly less. Crossing the pond, cruising countries and returning across the pond on the same ship "rings our bells." And, HAL, you've changed very much since our first cruise aboard your ships. Not always for the best unfortunately.

 

Don't forget she was purchased by Carnival in 1990.

[Himself]

I started traveling on HAL in 1996. I have noticed some changes. In the early days there were no specialty restaurants. There were self serve laudrys on every ship and the dress code was observed. No one challenged with bluejeans. All and all, I will stick with HAL and I think all of the lines have cut back and gone to nickel and diming. Now I was on the Nieuw Amstedam three weeks ago and we were not charged for water in the main dining room.

[hypercafe]

I think it fun to use different lines, most times I book based on where I want to go and and the least amount of flying. HAL provides a nice product right in line with the mass market. I feel they have a marketing problem. They represent themselves as a high end line, small ships ect however they are not high end, they are average. So when you take the trip expecting more than you get you feel let down. Some of there sale prices are very low but other prices are very high. If you pay the higher price you might really feel bad.

[twinkletoes4445]

If you pay the higher price you might really feel bad.

 

And that's the biggest part for us. We paid for the Ritz and ended up with the Holiday Inn. There's nothing at all wrong with a Holiday Inn, but I don't pay near the amount of money for a room at the HI.

 

We were talking about this last night, and had we not spent 8-9K and more like 2-3k on our cruise we would have felt differently. There's no getting around the non-functioning A/C, the toilets that don't work (ours at least worked, but took two flushes) and the frat-house furniture ... there's no excuse for that, those things should be functional and fixed, replaced.

 

If we're going to spend what I consider to be a fair amount of money, then we need to be on a ship that the bulk of the cabins also are about the same, or more costly. If HAL is selling 90% of their cabins at a great price, it is what it is. They only have so much money to spend on food, employees, etc.

 

We just got back from a river cruise and Uniworld set the bar high for any future ocean cruises for us. Granted, it was more expensive on Uniworld than HAL, but everything was way beyond what HAL provides for its guests. The thing that was the most noticeable for us was the crew wasn't wiped out. This past cruise on HAL it seemed that the crew was stretched even thinner than before. It took longer to get things and help when needed.

 

You hit the nail on the head ... HAL has a marketing problem. They represent themselves as a high end line, small ships ect however they are not high end, they are average.

 

In fact, I think HAL isn't average in some areas ... they are now below average. We haven't been around for long on HAL. Our first cruise was in 2007 and then in 2009 and both of those were wonderful trips. So it came to a shock to us when we went on the Zuiderdam this past spring. We hate change. I think HAL counts on their past customers to continue to be loyal, but they've gone too far. About three days into our spring cruise and hubby said, "Never again." He's right. Never again. At least never again at what we paid.

 

The upside to this is their changes have forced us to look elsewhere and that's a good thing. It's always nice to try new things but we tend to not until we are forced to do so!

 

Happy Sailing!

[sapper1]

I started traveling on HAL in 1996. I have noticed some changes. In the early days there were no specialty restaurants. There were self serve laudrys on every ship and the dress code was observed. No one challenged with bluejeans. All and all, I will stick with HAL and I think all of the lines have cut back and gone to nickel and diming. Now I was on the Nieuw Amstedam three weeks ago and we were not charged for water in the main dining room.

 

We almost got caught in the water scam on the NA. Someone came to the table and offered to pour water. At first I said "yes" and then noticed that the water was in a fancy carafe instead of the usual pitcher. I quickly asked if there would be a charge for the water and was told there would be. We declined it and waited for the regular water. I guess it pays to be alert.

[nowornever]

It's been a year since the last HAL, & will be next Sept. before there is another. So what's up with the water thing? Fancy carafe??? Do you just ask for "free water?" How demeaning to have to do that! Are there any other things that we all need to be on the alert for? Geez. On the last one we noted that the room steward appeared to have 1/2 of our corridor & was working well into the afternoon & sometimes we were at the end of the line. I suppose that's gotten even worse since staff is usually the first cutback. We've mostly shifted to smaller all inclusives but the fall Oosterdam itinerary was interesting & convenient. Maybe we'll be sorry? Water? Seriously???

[innlady1]

Regarding the water, I wonder what the difference is between that and the "regular" ship water in the pitcher :confused:

[jaguarstyper]

Regarding the water, I wonder what the difference is between that and the "regular" ship water in the pitcher :confused:

Probably just the carafe and the price. :confused:

[aliaschief]

Regarding the water, I wonder what the difference is between that and the "regular" ship water in the pitcher :confused:

 

Poured through a Britta type water filter. Was asked first night just like mineral water; refused and was never asked again. No big deal.