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[DaveOKC]

Eurodam - 27 Dec 2015 (New Year's cruise)

 

The Welcome on board Party was held at 7:30pm on the first day. We were the only couple who turned up - literally! We stayed for 20 mins and no one else came to the lounge. The Neptune Lounge was totally dead at that time. Wonder it is was because of the timing with many guest dining early.

 

What a waste of drink that had been pre-poured into glasses.

 

I must say, I would have noticed an invite card for this. Thankfully, the other half did read the welcome letter.

 

It was not due to dining times, but rather due to the new HAL policy of including the invite at the bottom of a long informational letter left in your cabin. When we had formal invitations, the turnout was great (place was packed). This is happening on most (if not all) HAL ships now and I think it is absolutely a dumb idea! As you stated, at our party, there was an abundance of wasted pre-poured drinks, plus 4 unnecessary servers (for 8 people).

 

Further, previously a number of the senior officers would attend, but now this has been eliminated. This is a poor way (IMO) to welcome the guests who are probably the most profitable customers onboard.

 

WAKE UP HAL!!

[Krazy Kruizers]

Eurodam - 27 Dec 2015 (New Year's cruise)

 

The Welcome on board Party was held at 7:30pm on the first day. We were the only couple who turned up - literally! We stayed for 20 mins and no one else came to the lounge. The Neptune Lounge was totally dead at that time. Wonder it is was because of the timing with many guest dining early.

 

What a waste of drink that had been pre-poured into glasses.

 

I must say, I would have noticed an invite card for this. Thankfully, the other half did read the welcome letter.

 

 

We always dine early and we made it for that now "worthless" party.

[Lizzie68]

It was not due to dining times, but rather due to the new HAL policy of including the invite at the bottom of a long informational letter left in your cabin. When we had formal invitations, the turnout was great (place was packed). This is happening on most (if not all) HAL ships now and I think it is absolutely a dumb idea! As you stated, at our party, there was an abundance of wasted pre-poured drinks, plus 4 unnecessary servers (for 8 people).

 

Further, previously a number of the senior officers would attend, but now this has been eliminated. This is a poor way (IMO) to welcome the guests who are probably the most profitable customers onboard.

 

WAKE UP HAL!!

 

Each Suite Welcome party we went to was absolutely packed and you could hardly get in the door. Many officers from the Captain down attended, including the GRM and Future Cruise Consultant. They mingled, chatted to as many as possible and then gradually left. Most pax stayed and socialized. I never heard any complaints from anyone. Now, however, it sounds like they actively discourage anyone from attending.

[DaveOKC]

Each Suite Welcome party we went to was absolutely packed and you could hardly get in the door. Many officers from the Captain down attended, including the GRM and Future Cruise Consultant. They mingled, chatted to as many as possible and then gradually left. Most pax stayed and socialized. I never heard any complaints from anyone. Now, however, it sounds like they actively discourage anyone from attending.

 

I am pretty certain that this is something new. On our cruise in May, 2015 we had a great party, just like you described.

 

There are too reports of this new Suite Welcome party disaster for it not to be a fleet wide decision. I understand controlling/reducing costs, but this new policy seems a bit much to me. Further, we did not have a Captains VIP cocktail party either (or perhaps I was just not invited!).

 

Oh well, being 4 Star now and having the suite perks reduced gives us less reason to book a Neptune Suite. So, I guess that HAL's cost reduction is working for me as well - reducing the cost of my cruises!!

[Krazy Kruizers]

Each Suite Welcome party we went to was absolutely packed and you could hardly get in the door. Many officers from the Captain down attended, including the GRM and Future Cruise Consultant. They mingled, chatted to as many as possible and then gradually left. Most pax stayed and socialized. I never heard any complaints from anyone. Now, however, it sounds like they actively discourage anyone from attending.

 

 

 

On the Vista and Signature class ships, some of our Suite Welcome aboard parties were held in the Crow's Nest.

On the S class ships a couple of times they were held in the MIX.

[sail7seas]

Each Suite Welcome party we went to was absolutely packed and you could hardly get in the door. Many officers from the Captain down attended, including the GRM and Future Cruise Consultant. They mingled, chatted to as many as possible and then gradually left. Most pax stayed and socialized. I never heard any complaints from anyone. Now, however, it sounds like they actively discourage anyone from attending.

 

That was always our experience. When the parties were in Neptune Lounge, it was packed. It became so crowded, some Captains/Hotel Directors began having it in Crows Nest. We've also had Suite parties in Pinnacle Bar as well as Silk Den. I loved the parties in Pinnacle Bar. They set up great. :)

 

Edited January 2, 2016 by sail7seas

[erewhon]

Each Suite Welcome party we went to was absolutely packed and you could hardly get in the door. Many officers from the Captain down attended, including the GRM and Future Cruise Consultant. They mingled, chatted to as many as possible and then gradually left. Most pax stayed and socialized. I never heard any complaints from anyone. Now, however, it sounds like they actively discourage anyone from attending.

 

All the Suite welcome aboard parties we attended on our Volendam cruises were by invitation, and held in the Neptune Lounge. At a couple of parties the Neptune Lounge was so packed, some guests and officers were standing in the hallway outside the door.

[TSLady]

We have just arrived home from a 14 day Asian Explorer cruise on Volendam. Our Neptune Suite was equipped with a Bose sound system that was Bluetooth enabled so any device could be used. It was wonderful. Mimosas were delivered with our coffee each morning and were lovely. We attended a suite lunch in the pinnacle grill and were invited to the welcome aboard reception in the Neptune lounge but did not attend as we had made dinner arrangements. There appeared to be a lot of guests and officers present when we walked past the lounge though. If there were cutbacks we never noticed, and every detail of our cruise was just lovely. I'm now having severe withdrawals though and leafing through the future cruise booklet for our next adventure.