Out of all the cut backs over the years, what is the one thing ...

[SetAnOpenCourse]

I liked the tea, the one wrapped with the HAL logo. Pretty good flavor and even though the PG tips is probably of slightly higher quality, I liked having the HAL bags anyway.

[kazu]

The fact that a library is apparently going to be added to the Koningsdam could indicate that the powers that be occasionally respond to feedback received from customers. If you don't appreciate changes, say something and encourage like minded passengers to do the same. If enough cruisers are vocal about something, maybe someone at headquarters will listen.

 

My husband occasionally lectures on HAL and he was recently told that lecturers on Panama Canal cruises are being eliminated. Grand Voyages, transatlantic and transpacific cruises, and some longer cruises apparently will still have them. When he first lectured 8 years ago, most cruises over 14 days had lecturers. Before long, they may be gone entirely from HAL. As with many other cutbacks, it does not really save much to delete lecturers. If you value them, let HAL know. (This comment may seem self serving, but good lectures are also a highlight of cruising for me even if the lecturer is not my husband!)

 

More things will be cut as long as cruise prices stay low. I hate to see what will go when oil prices go up again.

 

I remember your husband's lectures well from our Panama cuise in 2013 - "the Sail a way gang's cruise"

 

I truly hope that lectures do not disappear as this is a hallmark of HAL for me.

 

I can't fathom taking them away from the Panama cruise and, I can only suggest that everyone on the longer cruises makes their feelings known.

[slidergirl]

Getting back to the OP question: I would bring back traditional pop as the background music in the Lido. It's not the only genre I listen to, and I'm younger than that era, but it really seemed just right for a cruise! Unfortunately it wasn't long after I started cruising in 2012 that I stopped hearing it there.

 

OK. I miss the Indonesian lunch. I love Indonesian food!

 

But, I had to laugh here about bringing back "traditional pop" for background. Are you referring to the 60s-70s bubblegum/pop music??? For me, ugh. I grew up with it. I didn't mind it. BUT, flash forward to my new hotel. In the lobby, they play 60-70s bubblegum/pop. Hearing the same same songs over and over 8 hours a day 7/days/week - well, sometimes I want to shoot myself. A couple of weeks ago, one of the old bellman went and changed the channel (the list is hidden but he remembered) to classic 70s rock. It was SOOOOO much better. Even had a few guests say we had the best lobby music ever! Nothing like some Pink Floyd and Moody Blues ;-) So, the music is in the eye of the beholder!

[Lizzie68]

I remember your husband's lectures well from our Panama cuise in 2013 - "the Sail a way gang's cruise"

 

I truly hope that lectures do not disappear as this is a hallmark of HAL for me.

 

I can't fathom taking them away from the Panama cruise and, I can only suggest that everyone on the longer cruises makes their feelings known.

 

That was in 2015, Kazu! And yes I remember him, he did great lectures. I wonder if HAL is only having lecturers on much longer cruises now. I guess we will find out on our next one.

[johnny75]

Carnival Cutbacks

 

Bring back The tablecloths, the nicer silver, more cocktail servers, bartenders, waiters and stewards.

 

They cut and it shows for experienced cruisers.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[rkacruiser]

Carnival Cutbacks

 

Bring back The tablecloths, the nicer silver, more cocktail servers, bartenders, waiters and stewards.

 

They cut and it shows for experienced cruisers.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

My most recent Carnival experience was on Carnival Liberty in January.

 

Tablecloths missing, yes. I agree; a minus. Bartenders were busy, i.e stretched, but really not more so than when I have observed HAL bartenders when it is "prime cocktail time". Wait staff's service in the dining room was quite acceptable even in Open Seating. Stateroom Steward: Hmm. Who was the gentleman/gentlewoman? I met one such man dressed as such for that position (in my underwear while dressing for the formal night when there was a "knock on the door"). Never saw him again nor ever saw anyone responsible for the care of my stateroom. (But, stateroom maintenance met my expectations.)

 

My Carnival Liberty Steakhouse dinner, just as all of the others that I have experienced on a Carnival vessel, were superior in service, cuisine, and ambiance than most Pinnacle Grill dinners that I have booked. An exception must be made for this comment for some of the "special dinners", however.

[SetAnOpenCourse]

But, I had to laugh here about bringing back "traditional pop" for background. Are you referring to the 60s-70s bubblegum/pop music??? For me, ugh. I grew up with it. I didn't mind it. BUT, flash forward to my new hotel. In the lobby, they play 60-70s bubblegum/pop. Hearing the same same songs over and over 8 hours a day 7/days/week - well, sometimes I want to shoot myself.

 

Hopefully someone who knows a lot about music will correct me if I'm wrong, but Traditional Pop would be largely from the 1950s. Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Bennett, etc.

 

I sympathize with your plight at work, music-wise. I don't think I'd like that much more than the background music on my more recent HAL cruises (well maybe a little bit more).

[EDLOS]

Have not read all the posts, but the first time I was dismayed with all the cutbacks was when I stepped on board and there was no "live" music playing which to my mind always perked me up, but also perked up the crew greeting you.

Now, the crew's greeting is about the same as walking into a Funeral Parlor. Ah yes, The wake you wish to attend (your cabin) is on level 6

[slidergirl]

Hopefully someone who knows a lot about music will correct me if I'm wrong, but Traditional Pop would be largely from the 1950s. Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Bennett, etc.

 

I sympathize with your plight at work, music-wise. I don't think I'd like that much more than the background music on my more recent HAL cruises (well maybe a little bit more).

 

Trying to remember my Music History from UCLA...

 

There is nothing called "Traditional Pop". It is a broad term to sometimes describe the music "popular" at a given time. Some say Pop started in the 50s with the music from Bo Diddley and Elvis Presley. Sinatra and Bennett could fall in this, but not Ella (more big band/jazz). If it was played on the AM radio, it was pop. Someone older may think "Pop" is those oldies from the 50s, while a child of the 60s would think of The Carpenters, Linda Rondstadt, Mamas & Papas, Everly Brothers, etc, as "Pop". A child of the 2000s could think NKOTB, Lady Gaga, Brittney, Justin... pretty elementary thought stream there. It was in the 70s that started the big splits into more than just "pop, jazz, classical" - bubblegum, classic rock, hard rock, classic album rock, folk, electronic, EMO, etc...

 

So, you want the music of the 50s playing...right?

[SetAnOpenCourse]

Trying to remember my Music History from UCLA...

 

There is nothing called "Traditional Pop".

 

So, you want the music of the 50s playing...right?

 

Sticking with the thread, I was saying that I missed the background music that I used to hear in the Lido, which wasn't just from the fifties; the artists crossed multiple decades. But to answer your question, I'd also have newer vocalists played, such as Michael Buble.

 

Not to refute your college learning or to get stuck in terminology, but FYI:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traditional_pop_music

 

Maybe I should have referred to it as classic pop, which might be what one of my Pandora stations is called (can't recall exactly).

 

Thanks for asking - I really wasn't too clear.

[Aquahound]

My Carnival Liberty Steakhouse dinner, just as all of the others that I have experienced on a Carnival vessel, were superior in service, cuisine, and ambiance than most Pinnacle Grill dinners that I have booked.

 

My last cruise was on C. Liberty and I totally agree. Carnival's Steakhouse blows away Pinnacle Grill.

[3rdGenCunarder]

I liked the tea, the one wrapped with the HAL logo. Pretty good flavor and even though the PG tips is probably of slightly higher quality, I liked having the HAL bags anyway.

 

The HAL logo tea was Darjeeling, my favorite. I wouldn't say that PG Tips is a better quality. It's a different tea and brews a stronger tasting tea ("builders" in UK slang). Darjeeling is more delicate, so it seems like a weaker tea.

[RuthC]

Hopefully someone who knows a lot about music will correct me if I'm wrong, but Traditional Pop would be largely from the 1950s. Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Bennett, etc.

You're describing what's known as 'standards', or The Great American Songbook.

If we have to have music playing in the background, then I would prefer that, too, since it is unobtrusive. However, I would prefer the sounds of silence overhead (and I don't mean Simon & Garfunkel).

[navybankerteacher]

As long as there are sufficient areas not continually dominated by music, it's OK. It would be good to have some "quiet time" around the Lido pool, but if endless sound is what most want, it is their cruise too.

 

I do miss the soft, live music at dinner, but then its passing is not the only regrettable change.

[SetAnOpenCourse]

You're describing what's known as 'standards', or The Great American Songbook.

If we have to have music playing in the background, then I would prefer that, too, since it is unobtrusive. However, I would prefer the sounds of silence overhead (and I don't mean Simon & Garfunkel).

 

Thanks. I think the volume as I remember it (two or three years ago) was unobtrusive too.

 

Pandora has a station, "Dinner Party Radio" which is fairly similar to the music I recall in the Lido, although somewhat broader perhaps. The style is great for any time of day.

[SetAnOpenCourse]

The HAL logo tea was Darjeeling, my favorite. I wouldn't say that PG Tips is a better quality. It's a different tea and brews a stronger tasting tea ("builders" in UK slang). Darjeeling is more delicate, so it seems like a weaker tea.

You describe it well. I simplistically equated strength of the brew with quality, probably since I drink so much of the a tasteless brand provided at work. The HAL logo tea would be my go-to if I had the choice.

[sail7seas]

That was in 2015, Kazu! And yes I remember him, he did great lectures. I wonder if HAL is only having lecturers on much longer cruises now. I guess we will find out on our next one.

 

 

Seeems now they are going to provide us with lectures from Oprah...........:eek. I turn off the tv to not hear her and will not s pend a moment off my cruise time listening to her lecture of the day :eek

 

I am truly curious if anyone will actually choose an HAL cruise in the hope of heaing a lecture from Oprah? Would that be a highpoint? Would you purchase whatever she is selling that day?

How does HAL make money from this 'alliance?

Edited October 16, 2017 by sail7seas

[slidergirl]

You're describing what's known as 'standards', or The Great American Songbook.

If we have to have music playing in the background, then I would prefer that, too, since it is unobtrusive. However, I would prefer the sounds of silence overhead (and I don't mean Simon & Garfunkel).

 

"Standards" - that is exactly the descriptive title I was trying to search for!!! I never trust Wikipedia for anything ;-)

 

I'm not knocking any particular type of music. I just get sooo tired of hearing the same stuff over and over, be it oldies, bubblegum, even Buble (I do like him, but how many times can I stand hearing "Home" in a finite time).

While the "over 60" set would like to hear "The Standards" playing on the speakers, I'm sure the "younger" set would prefer something not so "stodgy". Maybe some nice instrumental jazz - unobtrusive, not era-specific, but just enough to break up the silence...

[Irish Eyes Are Sailing]

Just a thought but although I like most all types of music, 1940's thru 1980's mostly, do you think instrumental music (Kenny G, Yanni, Chris Botti comes to mind) might be pleasing/acceptable to most people? At a reasonable volume of course.

[SetAnOpenCourse]

"Standards" - that is exactly the descriptive title I was trying to search for!!! I never trust Wikipedia for anything.

 

Not to defend Wikipedia but FYI that description is actually in the first sentence of their page on Traditional Pop:

Traditional pop (also classic pop or pop standards)

 

 

IMHO, some genres have more genius rising to the top than other genres, and these find an audience in new generations. I am not in the over-60 set that you mention.

Anyway, I only intended to say this was something I missed, so enough said about it, from me.

[3rdGenCunarder]

You're describing what's known as 'standards', or The Great American Songbook.

If we have to have music playing in the background, then I would prefer that, too, since it is unobtrusive. However, I would prefer the sounds of silence overhead (and I don't mean Simon & Garfunkel).

 

Ah, silence. Something people no longer seem to savor. Are we afraid to be alone with our own thoughts? With so many people walking around with earbuds so they can listen to their own music choices on their phones, we don't need overhead music.

 

On one (maybe all?) of the Vistas, they had the same CD playing at the same time every morning in Pinnacle. Because we ate at the same time most mornings, we heard the same songs every morning. I liked the music (Billie Holiday) but it got to be a joke with us each morning--where in the set of songs would we come in?

[RuthC]

... do you think instrumental music (Kenny G, Yanni, Chris Botti comes to mind) might be pleasing/acceptable to most people? At a reasonable volume of course.

There was a night on one cruise where Kenny G was playing incessantly. I asked the head waiter to break the CD, as it was worse than Chinese water torture to me.

Thankfully, he changed the music, and that particular CD wasn't played again for the rest of the cruise.

Then, there was another cruise where dinner was such things as "Tell Laura I Love Her", and some of the other songs that were the same theme.

This is not what I would call 'dinner music'.

 

Since there is so much noise from talking in the dining rooms, it isn't necessary to have any music playing at all, much as I loved it when there was live music in the dining room on formal nights.

[cruisemom42]

 

I am truly curious if anyone will actually choose an HAL cruise in the hope of heaing a lecture from Oprah? Would that be a highpoint? Would you purchase whatever she is selling that day?

How does HAL make money from this 'alliance?

 

Companies would never disclose the mechanics of these deals, but looking at the publicity HAL got out of the original announcement of this agreement (in many different travel publications, in newspapers, websites, etc.), that's one thing.

 

Another thing is that HAL's marketing people have probably looked at the demographics and found that readers of O magazine (which is who the agreement is with, not with Oprah herself...) must closely match their target demographics for purchasing cruises. HAL was apparently already running ads in this magazine before the current two-year deal was announced. Now they will get additional visibility and positive publicity via that venue.

 

Would people pay to cruise with Oprah? I'm sure there are many who would. Just look at the dozens and dozens of "theme" and "specialty" cruises already hawked every year -- from tie-ins with popular TV series ("Top Chef" cruises on Celebrity) to cruises with a particular band or performer, to sports figures, to all kinds of celebrities (e.g., William Shatner, the Olsen twins). It may not appeal to regular cruisers like those on this board, but it might just get someone to cruise who was on the fence or had considered cruising but never actually tried it. And from what we've heard, that's the exact cruiser HAL is trying to get onboard. (Pun intended.)

 

Looking at the dates they've picked for these cruises, the remaining three with Oprah actually onboard seem to be in the shoulder seasons or slower seasons for their particular venues (e.g., Nov 29 in the Caribbean). So perhaps HAL will sell a few more cabins than usual or at a better price.

 

So that's at least four things HAL might hope to get out of the deal.

[Irish Eyes Are Sailing]

There was a night on one cruise where Kenny G was playing incessantly. I asked the head waiter to break the CD, as it was worse than Chinese water torture to me.

Thankfully, he changed the music, and that particular CD wasn't played again for the rest of the cruise.

Then, there was another cruise where dinner was such things as "Tell Laura I Love Her", and some of the other songs that were the same theme.

This is not what I would call 'dinner music'.

 

Since there is so much noise from talking in the dining rooms, it isn't necessary to have any music playing at all, much as I loved it when there was live music in the dining room on formal nights.

 

I was just trying to think of some instrumental music that maybe everyone could agree on. Maybe there are other/better suggestions. Didn't mean to suggest everybody likes Kenny G, just could not think of another alternative at the moment. Sorry if I said the wrong thing.

[Florida_gal_50]

Ah, silence. Something people no longer seem to savor. Are we afraid to be alone with our own thoughts? With so many people walking around with earbuds so they can listen to their own music choices on their phones, we don't need overhead music.

 

On one (maybe all?) of the Vistas, they had the same CD playing at the same time every morning in Pinnacle. Because we ate at the same time most mornings, we heard the same songs every morning. I liked the music (Billie Holiday) but it got to be a joke with us each morning--where in the set of songs would we come in?

I wish people would wear ear buds. I'm constantly around people that listen to videos with no ear buds. I was in a local restaurant the other day and someone had their cell phone on full blast to entertain her child. I remember hearing birds chirping in the MDR in the morning on ships I sailed on. That was semi pleasant. Now they seem to have some crappy ( to me ) music playing.

Edited October 16, 2017 by Florida_gal_50