Elmorejj......CC Get Together on Veendam??

[sail7seas]

Iggi, do you know if there will be an organised CC meeting on your sailing? We were wonderfully surprised to see that HAL had organised one for us on our Veendam cruise........just got back yesterday. It was on the 2nd or 3rd day in the Crows nest, hors d`oevres and cocktails provided by HAL and attended by the HM Nick Berger and the CD John Challenger. They gave out lots of info and told us that the Veendam is the first vessel of the line to do this CC get together but that it would be on all ships soon.........jean:cool:

 

 

How did you learn of this organized get together? Did you receive an invitation? How would they have known which CC members were aboard and which cabin they were in? Did you all participate on a RollCall?

[JLT]

We also had a similar get together on the Panama Canal/Amazon cruise in October. In fact, we had 2, one at the end of the cruise. We had already planned to meet on the first sea day in the Crow's Nest. It was listed in the daily program. John and Nick made us feel very welcome and seemed very interested in our opinions. John said he hoped to have this become a regular event. We also had a knitting get together with Debbie, the ass't CD, each sea day. It was a nice way to get acquainted. The staff on the Veendam for this cruise was the friendliest I have ever met and so were the passengers.

[gophercruiser]

There was an announcement in the daily program advising all of the meeting and where it was to be held.p

[JimVrhovac]

Thank you for the information. It is great to see that HAL is recognizing us and the fact that we are steady customers...

 

Jim & Ruth

[tjcox9]

I was also on the Canal/Amazon trip and the CC get togethers were a pleasant surprise. There was also a post on the roll call board a day or so prior to my sailing in addition to the listing in the daily program. Some would not have seen the posting as they boarded in Vancouver or Seattle and it was not posted prior to that, only before the LA departure.

 

They were gatherings with drinks and appetizers and open discussions with John (CD) and Nick (hotel manager). I also found the staff onboard the Veendam very friendly. It may be a "trickle down" effect as the Captain and Hotel Manager were both friendly, open and visible.

 

Veendam is tired and in need of help prior to its' drydock, but staff really helped make up for that.

[GayleArc]

Just off the Veendam Sat. and we also found the staff to be the best we

have ever sailed with after 39 HAL cruises. We did not see any signs of the

ship being in bad condition. We enjoyed the CC party and were very surprised

to see drinks and food served. All in all a very enjoyable cruise, thanks to the

Capt and staff.

[gizmo]

 

Veendam is tired and in need of help prior to its' drydock, but staff really helped make up for that.

 

:confused: ??? I just got off this ship also and did not see any signs of the ship being tired and in need of help.

 

I thought the ship was in wonderful condition.

[sail7seas]

We were on Veendam for 12 days in January and she looked wonderful in our opinion. She's a very pretty ship. Of course, she is just about ready to have her SOE upgrades in January.

 

We've known Mr. Burger and John Challenger from previous cruises and totally agree they are among the very, very, very tops, the very best. I'm thrilled to know John has returned to HAL ----where he belongs. :) I wonder what has prompted HAL to start having these get togethers sponsored by the ship. Perhaps it is something that Mr. Burger and John have instituted just on Veendam, so far?

[elmorejj]

Hi all, Nick told us that the Veendam was the first of the fleet to have the CC get togethers but hopefully in the near future it would be fleet wide. It was advertised in the daily programme and was held in the Crows nest. Nick and John told us they both read CC regularly, John said he has posted before. It was great to have him back on HAL. Lots of questions were asked about different things and we rec`d answers to all of them. All in all, a very nice get together. Hi to all of the CCers I met on board, would love to sail with you again...this was definitely one of our best cruises..........jean:cool:

[localady]

I am thrilled to hear about the sponsored get together!:D

At this point we have approximately 100 CCers on our Veentastic Veendammer voyage next week that have signed up for our get-together. At the time we created it, we didn't realize that HAL had anything planned so we were going to ask for their assistence when we got on board. Sounds like it should be very easy now.......:cool:

[HeatherInFlorida]

This is fantastic news:) and I hope they start having the sponsored events fleet-wide before our cruise on the Volendam next November. While of course we can schedule get togethers ourselves, it's so much nicer when the cruiseline sets aside a time and space for us.

 

Having just come off the Summit, I have to say they make it so easy for CC'ers by having the Celebrity Connections party. Our first was so successful that they set up another one for us the second week of our cruise. It was equally successful. Several members of the staff attended along with the CD who sat a chatted with us for quite some time about a number of things. It was fantastic.

 

I hope HAL comes up with a name for the parties and provides a link to sign up for the parties just like Celebrity. Celebrity's policy is that 25 people have to sign up before they'll schedule the party.

 

Wouldn't it be terrific if HAL invited us to come up with suggestions for a name? They could make it a contest! That could be a lot of fun:) .

[sail7seas]

. Nick and John told us they both read CC regularly, John said he has posted before. It was great to have him back on HAL.

 

 

 

And I know the name he used to post under but :) :) I'm not telling!!! :)

[Aussie Gal]

I hope this continues on the Veendam until we sail on her next September on the Vancouver/Panama/Amazon cruise.

 

We have started a Roll Call but so far there are only 3 of us. It is a lovely way to meet people especially when HAL are sponsoring it.

 

Jennie

[Deb C.]

How about....HAL'S PALS :)

 

I thought John did a good job as Cruise director. What I didn't care for was the attitude of the Hotel Manager when asked the question--How are the Mariners going to be rewarded for their loyalty to HAL? They don't seem to have many perks at this time.

 

Nick: We must be doing things right because of all the repeaters. Why would we need to change anything? (this is a paraphrase but you get the attitude).

--------

At other CC parties on other lines, we generally only got coffee, danish, etc. This noon meeting, we were given good tasting appetizers, free drinks (I even got several Cokes!) I wrote John a thank-you note on arranging this meeting. We had already made arrangements and met after muster, so this party came at a total surprise.

 

And yes, John does read these posts once or twice a week. He hates to see incorrect info being given on the boards, but doesn't like to jump in with a post.

 

Hopefully CC parties will continue for all of you on HAL ships.

[RuthC]

Nick: We must be doing things right because of all the repeaters. Why would we need to change anything? (this is a paraphrase but you get the attitude).

(emphasis added)

Perhaps he'd like to explain the dinner times "tests" on the Oosterdam?

[HeatherInFlorida]

Still, I wish that when someone who works for HAL sees something on here that is totally incorrect, they could sort of steer us in the right direction. They could do this without giving away their identity. It really would be quite simple to do.

 

There's nothing worse than a rumor running wild on the internet and certainly on this board. So I'd love to see a post that "turns the tide" so to speak when someone is reporting information that is totally off the wall.

 

Deb, "Hal's Pals" is really fun, but it might be just a little bit too casual for HAL's image. "Celebrity Connections" is clever, I think. It would be good to have it be something along those lines. Nothing comes to me off the top of my head ... have to think on it.

[sail7seas]

Nick: We must be doing things right because of all the repeaters. Why would we need to change anything? (this is a paraphrase but you get the attitude).

 

 

;) In terms of perks for Mariners, maybe Mr. Burger has a point??? They have such a huge percentage of Mariners on every cruise, that it seems to me they really don't need to encourage people to be repeaters.......so many of us already are. The encouragement we get to 'repeat' is the great cruise we have. If we enjoy it; have the service we want/enjoy; find the ships to be beautiful and maintained well; to enjoy Lido/Room Service/Dining Room ----all the dining venues, (and satisified each as to what they individually want on their cruise) then they have done what they need to do for us to repeat.

 

Changes or experiments as to dining hours/Master Chef dinner etc is a different subject IMO That has nothing to do with rewarding repeat passengers.

 

[elmorejj]

The subject of the dining hours on the Oosterdam was brought up at the meeting and Nick said it was just a trial, and that they would wait for comments on the survey cards. .........jean:cool:

[RuthC]

Jean, I do understand that "it's just a trial", but what I'm questioning is why he thinks HAL would even need a trial if he feels they don't need to change anything.

It's contradictory.

[boards]

How they know who the CCer's are? Does someone give them a list? It sound to me like something that could be abused very easily and spoil the idea if there aren't some controls.

[peaches from georgia]

How they know who the CCer's are? Does someone give them a list? It sound to me like something that could be abused very easily and spoil the idea if there aren't some controls.

None of us know who the CCers are, do we? There is no 'list'. Many posters never make their real names or identities known and many people read CC and don't post. It doesn't matter. There is no abuse- HAL throws an open party, announces it in the Daily Program and anyone is free to come. If you weren't familiar with Cruise Critic, however, you wouldn't pay any attention to the announcement of the party in the list of activities and if someone came to it just to see what CC was, does it really matter anyway? It was a Q & A with refreshments given by the cruiseline- what's to spoil?

[peaches from georgia]

Only hit submit once! Think CC is having problems again.

[peaches from georgia]

Jean, I do understand that "it's just a trial", but what I'm questioning is why he thinks HAL would even need a trial if he feels they don't need to change anything.

It's contradictory.

I didn't make the meeting, Ruth, but from what I was told from those who did and from others on board, HAL is doing these dining trials in answer to what their pax are telling them they want.

 

Perks for Mariners is another issue, one where HAL evidently does not think they need to change.

[RuthC]

I know that, peaches. The question is still "why" try a change when he says there's no need to change. He can't have it both ways.

[boards]

None of us know who the CCers are, do we? There is no 'list'. Many posters never make their real names or identities known and many people read CC and don't post. It doesn't matter. There is no abuse- HAL throws an open party, announces it in the Daily Program and anyone is free to come. If you weren't familiar with Cruise Critic, however, you wouldn't pay any attention to the announcement of the party in the list of activities and if someone came to it just to see what CC was, does it really matter anyway? It was a Q & A with refreshments given by the cruiseline- what's to spoil?

Sorry my apology, I thought it was like a private thing, like the ones on the list localady has been compiling for this thread. I had the wrong idea of what it was all about. You right it is great that Hal is doing this, but I thought they were already doing it by having the repeater's get together and this was in recogination of all the folks who have been contribution to this thread for almost 18 - 19 months. Again my apology.