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bUU

By bUU,
in Holland America Line

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RuthC

RuthC

Posted
Posted

If Orlando Ashford believes that stuff spewing from him, then he has never tried to book a cruise on the new website. :rolleyes:

 

HAL ought to make a new rule: before hiring a new executive who doesn't already work for the company, they should be required to book a HAL cruise---without assistance!---on the website.

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OlsSalt

OlsSalt

Posted
Posted

Nice to learn officially it is entirely our fault if we can't use the new and wonderful HAL website and are unable to book any future cruises using its streamlined and intuitive design. Darn it. All those years entirely wasted in higher education on me. I flunked HAL 101.

 

Talk about selling sizzle.

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bUU

bUU

Posted
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Posted
Thanks for sharing the info

You're welcome. I know sometimes it is difficult to cut through the over the top reactions to what the cruise line does, so having a direct line to the actual source is invaluable.

 

 

 

This message may have been entered via voice recognition. Please excuse any typos.

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Vict0riann "Live from...." Rare

Vict0riann

Posted
Posted

I was looking at a cruise for next year and the itinerary was so garbled, with words on top of each other, I took a screen shot and sent it to HAL, saying "What kind of itinerary is this?" I also did a feedback - which was also screwy!

 

And I forgot to mention, when I went to my bookmarked "Old HAL" site, I got the new HAL website. Boo.

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OlsSalt

OlsSalt

Posted
Posted

I am trying to find the next VOV on the Rotterdam in August 2019 and it is a total breakdown on the old HAL site.

 

I won'd even try to find this on the new HAL website. A propriatary site says HAL is offering three versions of the full RT in 2019 - however the old HAL website claims they are offering only a single one-way VOV from Rotterdam for August 2019.

 

Why is HAL doing this to themselves and and then taking this egregious public victory lap patting themselves on the back in face of the utter frustration we seasoned HAL cruisers have been experiencing, now on both HAL websites.

 

Update: I did finally find the VOV's on the new website under "Grand Voyages" but the connecting website page is so busy and has overlapping and moving images it is totally annoying to get any real, direct information easily.

 

Plus you have to know up front this is a "grand voyage" or else you will never get to this cruise offering location. It felt more like a video game once it connected, and you needed a joy stick to get any real information.

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OlsSalt

OlsSalt

Posted
Posted
I suggest everyone send a note to pr@hollandamerica.com if you’re upset with the new website. The only way they’ll understand is if they get flooded with feedback on how unhappy we are with the changes. [emoji483]

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Thank you for the link - I just sent mine in describing my current specific frustration with now both the old and the HAL website.

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whogo

whogo

Posted
Posted

Plus you have to know up front this is a "grand voyage" or else you will never get to this cruise offering location.

 

The old website is like this. I could not find the 80 some day circle the Pacific cruise with the search terms "Asia & Pacific" or "Australia".

 

 

I cannot access the new HAL website, get the old one every time. Don't tell me about deleting cookies or anything, I am not willing to make the effort.

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Old As Dirt Mom

Old As Dirt Mom

Posted
Posted
For folks interested in what CCL intends in terms of how it presents its cruise lines, including Holland America, to the market, you can follow the following web page.

 

http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=200767&p=irol-newshal14&nyo=0

 

Thanks for the link. It seems to be comprised of lots of internal back-slapping and back-scratching by industry insiders, passing accolades back and forth among each other. It proves yet again the enormous chasm that exists between the HAL corporate fantasies and the real world implementation of those fantasies that exist on board the HAL fleet, where the overworked and overburdened crew have to facilitate every half-baked idea thought up by a bean counter who wants to pad his/her resume. I would like every single executive hired by HAL to spend one week incognito aboard a HAL ship in an inside cabin before beginning work at headquarters, and then another week working in reservations/customer service on the phone, dealing directly with their customers.

 

I consider the cruise industry so compromised as a whole, and HAL in particular, that I have just cancelled an 18-day Eurodam itinerary, in a Neptune suite, after filling out my survey for our recent Zaandam cruise, and told them there is nothing they can do to make me ever cruise again. I am done, done, done.

 

I'm tired of being a constant sales target, I am tired of the marketing lies, I am tired of having to endure the implementation of (someone else's) fantasies that have no bearing on reality. Mostly I'm tired of spending thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars to be totally at the mercy of someone else's schedules, protocols, rules, and conceptions. I am tired of being treated like an infant on the ship, dependent on dozens of people just to be able to do the things I can do perfectly well by myself at home, where to be honest, I am MUCH more comfortable and where my standards are much higher.

 

One should treat a cruise ship simply as a means of locomotion to a destination, with room and board thrown in, providing access to remote corners of the world. All the rest is fancy marketing gimmicks and pretense.

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Sir PMP

Sir PMP

Posted
Posted
I suggest everyone send a note to pr@hollandamerica.com if you’re upset with the new website. The only way they’ll understand is if they get flooded with feedback on how unhappy we are with the changes. [emoji483]

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

I doubt it will help, you can't teach an old dog new tricks...

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MajMom96

MajMom96

Posted
Posted
I doubt it will help, you can't teach an old dog new tricks...

 

 

 

Well I know one thing for certain, It definitely won’t help if you don’t send a comment, so it’s at least worth a try. And having worked in an industry that relied heavily on customer feedback, it certainly can’t hurt to take a few minutes to send in a concern. It won’t take any longer to do that than it takes to make a negative comment on this site, and at least there’s a chance that it gets to someone who cares.

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taxmantoo

taxmantoo

Posted
Posted
I doubt it will help, you can't teach an old dog new tricks...

In this case, it is the new dog who replaced Stein Kruse having difficulty learning the old tricks and really messing up the new ones. :rolleyes:

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bUU

bUU

Posted
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Posted
Thanks for the link.
You're welcome. To your points, all companies present their best aspect to the public. None publicize the things about their offerings that don't place them in the best light. The value of the releases is to understand what the cruise line actually intends to offer. While they may claim more than they offer, at times, they generally won't claim less.

 

 

This message may have been entered via voice recognition. Please excuse any typos.

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Fouremco

Fouremco

Posted
Posted
You're welcome. To your points, all companies present their best aspect to the public. None publicize the things about their offerings that don't place them in the best light. The value of the releases is to understand what the cruise line actually intends to offer. While they may claim more than they offer, at times, they generally won't claim less.

 

 

This message may have been entered via voice recognition. Please excuse any typos.

I couldn't agree more. As irritating as this release might be for those who are in a position to compare the PR superlatives to the reality that we know, does anyone really expect them to come out and announce that their new website that they've poured countless hours and dollars into actually sucks and never should have been turned loose on an unsuspecting public?

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Old As Dirt Mom

Old As Dirt Mom

Posted
Posted
I couldn't agree more. As irritating as this release might be for those who are in a position to compare the PR superlatives to the reality that we know, does anyone really expect them to come out and announce that their new website that they've poured countless hours and dollars into actually sucks and never should have been turned loose on an unsuspecting public?

 

My travel agent, who has been in the biz for some 30+ years, and is a major producer for HAL, says the new HAL website is just about the worst she has had to work with, ever.

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