HAL Cutbacks

[janmcn]

Fresh-squeezed OJ is apparently not around due to a problem with the orange trees in FL right now that has caused an 82% drop in production since 2005...deadly disease with no cure...wiping out groves.

 

 

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[navybankerteacher]

Fresh-squeezed OJ is apparently not around due to a problem with the orange trees in FL right now that has caused an 82% drop in production since 2005...deadly disease with no cure...wiping out groves.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

The fact that freshly squeezed orange juice IS available generally at stores throughout the US, although at a somewhat higher price, is evidence that cost, rather than non-availability must be HAL's motivation: meaning that it disappearance from the Lido IS evidence of a cutback rather than anything else.

[cbr663]

We are Canadian and are seeing substantial price increases. We are looking at an Alaskan cruise for next summer and the price for a standard balcony cabin is more than doubled what we paid for a Vista Suite just two years ago. Perhaps the prices will come down, who knows?

 

We discussed this cruise earlier today. If the prices do not come down, without airfare, we are easily looking at $900 per day for the cruise. A balcony cabin on HAL just does not warrant that, imo. Time to look elsewhere.

[Copper10-8]

Since there are only so many cabins on any one ship dedicated to crew and staff, as well as supporting activity staff like the shops, classes, spa, casino etc, it would be fascinating to see how those non-passenger cabins get allocated between the numbers of the dining/cabin crew and the ...... "others".

 

Any of the HAL insiders know the crew cabin allocation ratio numbers?

 

Down (and up; there are crew cabins on the higher decks) in crew cabin country, cabins are serviced once a day (morning or evening, no turn-down service ;)) by junior HK staff, either assigned exclusively to those cabin sections, and/or as part of their pax cabin responsibility (asst. stewards). Don't have the ratio for ya, sorry

[Copper10-8]

Please elaborate...

 

We have seen on our recent Oosterdam sailing some cutbacks ( or changes), but other things were added to improve service, like offering sparkiling wine while waitng for a table in "As you wish Open seating".

 

They also came around with fresh fruit etc on deck at sea, something not observed on precious sailings.

Also the MDR menu has improved slightly ( except for the very old-fashioned Gala-Night menus).

 

Gefeliciteerd/Congrats! ;)

[LAFFNVEGAS]

We are Canadian and are seeing substantial price increases. We are looking at an Alaskan cruise for next summer and the price for a standard balcony cabin is more than doubled what we paid for a Vista Suite just two years ago. Perhaps the prices will come down, who knows?

 

We discussed this cruise earlier today. If the prices do not come down, without airfare, we are easily looking at $900 per day for the cruise. A balcony cabin on HAL just does not warrant that, imo. Time to look elsewhere.

Actually High prices especially for Alaska for the NEXT year is actually quite typical. I remember checking numerous prices last year this time for 2016 and the prices were crazy high but come July 20th of last year when Explore4 was added most stayed the same or went up slightly making everyone jump to purchase thinking they got a fantastic deal. Which actually in many cases last years Explore4 was a good deal. Later Advantage fares for the same sailings went down considerably. Yes I would say over all the prices will be slightly higher but not a huge amount. Trust me there will be drastic price reductions for Alaska next January and February :D Well, at least for HAL.

[alwaysfrantic]

We are Canadian and are seeing substantial price increases. We are looking at an Alaskan cruise for next summer and the price for a standard balcony cabin is more than doubled what we paid for a Vista Suite just two years ago. Perhaps the prices will come down, who knows?

 

We discussed this cruise earlier today. If the prices do not come down, without airfare, we are easily looking at $900 per day for the cruise. A balcony cabin on HAL just does not warrant that, imo. Time to look elsewhere.

 

Right now without airfare we are over 10K for the Noordam next June. I have to think a promo will lower it.....hope a promo will lower it.

[Despegue]

Gefeliciteerd/Congrats! ;)

 

Thanks!

 

Didn't see the game as I was at the time at 34.000ft. above the Sahara :(

[lgoldst801]

My concern is first and foremost with service and activities not price.

On the 7 days cruises ( and I have confirmed this with some of the staff) there have been cutbacks, and for suite passengers more than in other room classes

You want details no matter how significant here they are:

 

In a suite we use to get a 2 cocktail parties with the captain and officers. This has been eliminated

In a suite we use to get a suite luncheon in the Crows nest or Pinnacle Grill

This has been eliminated

 

Other eliminated events:

Chocolate Buffet

Crew Show

Disembarkation talk and show "Love in any language"

More hands on events

Baked Alaska show and or Baked Alaska served

Lack of staff in MDR and Lido creating longer lines and wait

[OlsSalt]

We are Canadian and are seeing substantial price increases. We are looking at an Alaskan cruise for next summer and the price for a standard balcony cabin is more than doubled what we paid for a Vista Suite just two years ago. Perhaps the prices will come down, who knows?

 

We discussed this cruise earlier today. If the prices do not come down, without airfare, we are easily looking at $900 per day for the cruise. A balcony cabin on HAL just does not warrant that, imo. Time to look elsewhere.

 

Pricing US dollars will obviously be subject to international rates of exchange. From what I hear the Canadian-US dollar exchange rates have changed dramatically. (Price of oil?)

 

So is this a "HAL price rise" or the fluctuating realities of international currency - however, net result is the same. If it gets to be too expensive to sail ships tied to the dollar, where does one go for better deals?

[OlsSalt]

.....

 

Other eliminated events:

Chocolate Buffet

Crew Show

Disembarkation talk and show "Love in any language"

More hands on events

Baked Alaska show and or Baked Alaska served

Lack of staff in MDR and Lido creating longer lines and wait

 

Here is what we found on our recent Zuiderdam, no Chocolate Buffet and no Baked Alaska "parade", but Pinnacle still served their version of Baked Alaska. Still had the crew show, plenty of "hands-on" staffed events, the final good-by show, no long lines in the Lido, and MDR dinner went very smoothly - easily under an hour for 3-4 courses.

 

So "eliminated" might not be the operative description as your own experience does not appear to be the case across the fleet. So far. Maybe you got the roll-out version of pending changes. I don't know. However, we were invited to two "officer" events, that we assumed were for 5 star cruisers but were not suite guest events. (????) Both were intimate and fun.

Edited June 19, 2016 by OlsSalt

[serendipity1499]

Fresh-squeezed OJ is apparently not around due to a problem with the orange trees in FL right now that has caused an 82% drop in production since 2005...deadly disease with no cure...wiping out groves.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

You "hit the nail on the head" Due to citrus greening & citrus canker we've lost a great deal of our orange crops..

 

http://www.crec.ifas.ufl.edu/extension/greening/index.shtml

 

http://www.crec.ifas.ufl.edu/extension/canker/

 

Until 4 years ago we lived in an older house with lots of citrus trees, a short distance from where we are now.. Most of the trees were very large & had beautiful fruit on them..I never ate grapefruit until moving to Florida.. The state came in & took all of our trees only because we lived within 1900 ft. of one tree which had canker.. They paid us a nominal sum (under $100) for each tree they destroyed.. They left us with our huge mango tree DH had planted, a Papaya tree, our bananas & a large avocado tree which I grew from pit..The Avacado had lovely round, yes round & delicious fruit on it..

 

We even pay more for orange juice in our supermarkets..

Edited June 19, 2016 by serendipity1499

[cbr663]

Actually High prices especially for Alaska for the NEXT year is actually quite typical. I remember checking numerous prices last year this time for 2016 and the prices were crazy high but come July 20th of last year when Explore4 was added most stayed the same or went up slightly making everyone jump to purchase thinking they got a fantastic deal. Which actually in many cases last years Explore4 was a good deal. Later Advantage fares for the same sailings went down considerably. Yes I would say over all the prices will be slightly higher but not a huge amount. Trust me there will be drastic price reductions for Alaska next January and February :D Well, at least for HAL.

 

Thanks for the heads up Lisa.

 

On our NA cruise this past December we did notice an absence of fruit and veggies throughout the cruise. Certainly not the variety that was available just a few years ago.

 

We also noticed that we ate more hamburgers and pizza than ever before. Not that it is a bad thing, but upon reflection, we realized that we don't cruise on HAL to eat hamburgers and pizza.

 

We have a cruise booked for the K later this year and DW recently noted that the tables in the balcony cabins are small square tables that do not rise up and are unsuitable for in-cabin dining.

 

We have also noticed that the table on the balcony is the small, low table suitable for placing a beverage on while lounging. This appears to have practically eliminated the ability to dine in any cabin lower than a Neptune or the Pinnacle Suite (these have a dining height table on the balcony).

 

We would consider this a major cut back and time will tell if this is just a feature of the Pinnacle Class or whether it will be rolled out through the entire line.

[Copper10-8]

Thanks!

 

Didn't see the game as I was at the time at 34.000ft. above the Sahara :(

 

Priorities! ;)

[kevingastreich]

We cancelled the cruise this past April -- not because of the higher price but for other reasons which I will not go into.

 

If you're not going to go into it...why even mention it?

[CaveDiving]

...

 

We refuse to travel on any ship that has a Class concept. We do not normally book a suite, simply because we do not need nor want the extra space. But we DO expect the same service, options and food as anyone on the ship ('except loyalty programmes). In our opinion, one pays extra for the living space if you choose a suite. Not to be in a different part of the ship.

So any introduction of a class concept on HAL will see us saying Sayonara. Just as we did with Celebrity. Normal life already has enough " class concepts" in most societies, we can be without that on our vacation, thank you.

 

I am sure we are not alone in this by the way.

 

I thank you very much for this posting. I absolutely agree about the desirability of the "no class concept" aboard the HAL ships. To me, "Class" is not demonstrated by merely paying more for a ticket.

 

Scott & Karen

[CaveDiving]

I would like to mention that we really missed the fresh squeezed orange juice in the Lido. The stuff being served left a great deal to be desired.

 

Scott & Karen

[iceman93]

If you're not going to go into it...why even mention it?

 

Funny, I thought the same thing!

 

Anyway, I have a theory here and hopefully I won't get blasted for sharing it. It's just a theory.

 

Maybe what some see as cutbacks are actually just changes, as in "everything changes". If HAL never mixed up their service offerings, there would undoubtedly be complaints about that. So maybe they've gotten feedback that two suite parties is too much, so they drop to one. Some people see it as a cutback, others are glad not to be invited to too many events.

 

Another theory I have is that, no matter what a cruise line does, frequent cruisers will inevitably become disillusioned and disappointed. The same treatment that tickles our fancy on our first cruise and makes us think, "Wow, they're really going above any beyond!" becomes the expected, standard norm. So even if things are exactly as magical on the second cruise as they were on the first, our expectations have now been raised and we're no longer wowed like we were previously.

 

Again, I'm not arguing these points, just raising them as theories. What do the rest of you think?

[erewhon]

My concern is first and foremost with service and activities not price.

On the 7 days cruises ( and I have confirmed this with some of the staff) there have been cutbacks, and for suite passengers more than in other room classes

You want details no matter how significant here they are:

 

In a suite we use to get a 2 cocktail parties with the captain and officers. This has been eliminated

In a suite we use to get a suite luncheon in the Crows nest or Pinnacle Grill

This has been eliminated

 

Other eliminated events:

Chocolate Buffet

Crew Show

Disembarkation talk and show "Love in any language"

More hands on events

Baked Alaska show and or Baked Alaska served

Lack of staff in MDR and Lido creating longer lines and wait

 

Did you notice any other cutbacks for suite passengers?

We will miss the suite luncheon.

[Stratheden]

Personally I would prefer that HAL raised it prices for cruises and kept the standards of food and service that they had become known for.

 

There is no point in paying less for a cruise and not enjoying it

 

We will not be sailing on HAL in the forseeable future - we cancelled our 2017 cruise after the disappointing food and MDR service that we received in April this year.

[lgoldst801]

I echo these thoughts. They can cut back in smarter ways

Did I need a cappuccino maker in my suite ( no)when in the Neptune lounge just feet away is a state of the art maker?

Did I need 2 for formal nights on a seven day cruise? No

Do they really think those polyester chair covers on the 2nd formal night will last longer and wear better. Maybe they would if they would have washed the dirt off of them

And to the 5 star mariner who wrote that he had 2 cocktail parties with the officers well you answered your own question. That is why you were invited We are 3 star Mariners and they forgot about us for the first time

Spoke to people on Princess and made price and service comparison with them. Cut not as severe as HAL. Wish I could transfer my 3 star status to Princess

[OlsSalt]

Funny, I thought the same thing!

 

Anyway, I have a theory here and hopefully I won't get blasted for sharing it. It's just a theory.

 

Maybe what some see as cutbacks are actually just changes, as in "everything changes". If HAL never mixed up their service offerings, there would undoubtedly be complaints about that. So maybe they've gotten feedback that two suite parties is too much, so they drop to one. Some people see it as a cutback, others are glad not to be invited to too many events.

 

Another theory I have is that, no matter what a cruise line does, frequent cruisers will inevitably become disillusioned and disappointed. The same treatment that tickles our fancy on our first cruise and makes us think, "Wow, they're really going above any beyond!" becomes the expected, standard norm. So even if things are exactly as magical on the second cruise as they were on the first, our expectations have now been raised and we're no longer wowed like we were previously.

 

Again, I'm not arguing these points, just raising them as theories. What do the rest of you think?

 

I think you hit the nail on the head. And for every recently unhappy past HAL cruiser, there now seem to be 2 Chinese cruisers happy to take their place but coming with a different set of expectations.

 

No one can provide the same product for the same price, forever. One gets the message only when the ships are no longer filled; not when former unhappy passengers get replaced with new ones who are not. It is a business. We can accept that.

[The-Inside-Cabin]

Personally I would prefer that HAL raised it prices for cruises and kept the standards of food and service that they had become known for.

 

There is no point in paying less for a cruise and not enjoying it

 

We will not be sailing on HAL in the forseeable future - we cancelled our 2017 cruise after the disappointing food and MDR service that we received in April this year.

 

Take a look at a Grand World Voyage Segment. The service is a cut above the standard cruise. Price maybe 15% more per day....roughly

[RocketMan275]

I have to disagree here.

...

 

We refuse to travel on any ship that has a Class concept. We do not normally book a suite, simply because we do not need nor want the extra space. But we DO expect the same service, options and food as anyone on the ship ('except loyalty programmes). In our opinion, one pays extra for the living space if you choose a suite. Not to be in a different part of the ship.

So any introduction of a class concept on HAL will see us saying Sayonara. Just as we did with Celebrity. Normal life already has enough " class concepts" in most societies, we can be without that on our vacation, thank you.

 

I am sure we are not alone in this by the way.

 

And, I have to disagree here. We would prefer Holland to implement upscale dining and lounges for Suites passengers just like Royal and Celebrity and Princess. You pay more, you should get more.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Well, things must vary cruise to cruise and ship to ship for sure.

 

Our cruise on the Westerdam - food was good,selection was inviting and MDR service was fantastic. (I did miss the made to order sandwiches).

 

The buffets on the Lido deck were delicious and fresh.

 

Our cruise was a longer one - 30+ days, pricier and never went on "sale". I'm wondering if this has an affect on the food and service on board?

 

Having sailed on Oceania, I can tell you they used a LOT more salt than HAL did on our cruise.

 

I did miss the "sandwiches made to order" though ;)

 

As to suite cutbacks - we had two suite luncheons (welcome and farewell), the usual reception (not many officers, true) and two special invitations (lots of officers).

 

Great crew, great service - we had a good time :)

 

 

We were on the cruise before yours -- 21 days. Only 1 suite lunch.

Only a handful of us were invited to the Special Officers reception -- there were very few officers and they did not mingle. No captain there.

No VIP parties or as advertised -- no real cocktail party with the officers.

Nothing special for PS and NS passengers. And we have done this cruise 4 other times and had lots of parties.