how long does HAL usually take to respond to complaints ?

[alwaysfrantic]

 

Lovely other, I am so glad you got your apology although very late in coming.

Did she? I don't see where she did receive an update on the situation.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Did she? I don't see where she did receive an update on the situation.

She stated she did in post #116

[CowPrincess]

Good policy.

 

But is it enforced, or is it just good policy? If it is not enforced it really does not mean much. Sort of like the dress code?

 

Exactly! And it certainly seems that in this particular instance, it was just policy, not practice :(

Edited May 14, 2016 by CowPrincess

[CowPrincess]

Lovely Other, I am glad you got a satisfactory response from HAL.

[Jade13]

I agree good policy BUT.... obviously NOT always enforced nor did any HAL Crew care in this instance. Many HUGE Corporations have all these great policies and procedures and employees and management look the other way. Sadly this first sailing of the Koningsdam was filled with lots of things that use to happen on a HAL ship that simply did NOT. Many were not things you could blame on "Oh that was because it was the first sailing of the Koningsdam " All of the crew were experiences and not NEW to HAL.

 

 

 

Lovely other, I am so glad you got your apology although very late in coming.

 

 

Will you ever cruise on HAL again?

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Will you ever cruise on HAL again?

 

Jade, are you asking me or Lovely other?

For myself I will be sailing the Westerdam October 22nd this year, then after that going on the NCL Dawn in March and Diamond Princess in October 2017, then looking like back to NCL for Spring 2018.

[Lovely other]

If your question was aimed at me Jade13, then the answer is yes, most certainly. We are actually on the Koningsdam again in June to do the Baltics. I need to use up my complimentary coffee card apology :p ....

[English Woman Abroad]

When contractors come onboard HAL ships, and I'm talking contractors who are sailing with the ship/are assigned cabins, not service techs who come onboard on 'turnaround days' and leave before the ship sails, they are handed a booklet (kinda similar to the booklet "from the captain" pax find in their cabins), that explain the rules and regs that apply to them while onboard.

 

All contractors, especially the large groups of contractors who come onboard for dry-dock periods, include a foreman/supervisor/project manager who they answer to. In the incident the OP mentions, that foreman/supervisor/project manager, plus the knuckle draggers who made the unacceptable and offensive comments, should have been called on the carpet, read the riot act, and instructed very clearly that their uncouth comments are to cease and desist immediately, or they would be kicked off the ship at the next port and made to explain to the company they are employed by the reason why this occurred! As soon as that meeting was concluded, these offenders should have been made to offer their apologies to the OP

 

HAL has a zero tolerance to any form of harassment which is one of the most important rules explained to new crew during their HESS (Health - Environment - Safety - Security) meeting they are obligated to attend on the first sea day after joining. In my job, I instruct new crew on this and other topics as part of these meetings. As we all know, or should know, the times have changed and what was acceptable, including in Italy, in the seventies and eighties is no longer acceptable in the times we live nowadays.

 

There is absolutely no excuse for the type of comments the OP had to face from these contractors and that should have been made crystal clear to these individuals.

 

 

This gentleman nailed it. Hope he is on board any HAL cruise I take. Kudos, Copper. Your posts I have seen are always so spot on. Cheers and best!

Edited May 16, 2016 by English Woman Abroad

[erewhon]

Well I have finally heard back from HAL ... I gave up on UK customer services eventually and directed my emails to the U.S.

 

i have been assured that the behaviour of the contractors was not acceptable and that guest relations should have taken the matter more seriously than they did. I got an apology so thats settled then and I'll put it down to experience ...

 

I would like to thank all of you that left positive supportive comments, I may not have replied at the time but it meant a lot to me. I'm sensitive about the way I look so far as I don't even let my husband take photo's on our trips. over the past decade my body has been through hell with some very serious health issues, the fact that I'm still around to go on cruises is a miracle in itself ...when people judge me I get hurt easily. I'd like to say I'd toughen up but then I'm one of those over empathic sensitive types and why should I have to change.

 

Anyway thanks again

 

m x

 

 

Thank you for letting us know that you received a communications from HAL.

Hope your next cruise is thoroughly enjoyable, and problem free.

[UPNYGuy]

I have been reading this thread, considering whether or not to give HAL another cursory go, just to see what Koningsdam is all about. Threads like these make me acutely aware that HAL has not improved, but has (in fact) deteriorated even beyond what they were at when my wife and I had enough. Doubt they will ever get us back, and we were close to 4 star.

[cat shepard]

Clearly a different situation, but I wanted to share my experience.

 

I just returned from a 12 day Eurodam cruise through Italy, Greece and Turkey. It was my first HAL cruise, so I did not know what to expect, though I have faithfully read this forum so at least I was armed with some good info.

 

We were anchored off the island of Lesbos, Greece and were seated on our verandah after rerunning to the ship, when a strong, overwhelming paint smell surrounded us and we had to go into our cabin. The smell was even inside. We contacted Guest Relations simply to obtain the crew's painting schedule, so we'd know when to avoid our verandah. Within minutes, the smell disappeared. Rosa, one of the supervisors, called us within the hour to let us know the painting was stopped. We were stunned, but most appreciative. Rosa was delightful, stressing how important it was for us to be able to enjoy our verandah.

 

And then the following morning, Rosa called back to make sure everything was still ok! We thought that was an amazing sign of an excellent customer focus, but shrilly after Rosa called, two of her staff members delivered the most beautiful bouquet of flowers to us. The flowers were still so beautiful on our last night, we brought them to the dining room and bequeathed them to Althea, one of the dining room managers that we'd befriended.

 

Perhaps it is harder to ignore the complaint when you are a HAL rep on a ship, but it is unfortunate that you have not experienced the same level of service that we did. HAL needs to pay attention to inconsistent treatment.

[blizzardboy]

I've always found ships' personnel to be responsive and caring when we've reported a problem. I've also chosen to wait and address issues after a cruise rather than disrupt our "zen". In either case, I've always felt HAL addressed my concerns. I may not have always agreed 100% with a problem's resolution, but never have I felt my concerns to be minimized or ignored.