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NEWSFLASH : new updated sel de mer policy fleetwide


CJcruzer
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I had a meeting with the guest services manager and hotel manager, by their request.

 

My emails to Office of the President, Orlando Ashford and Gerald Bernhoft were read, taken seriously and addressed immediately!. 

Apparently my request to know and define fleetwide, except for Pinnacle class ships, the status of Sel de Mer pop-up dinners with regard to Mariner was the main topic of the day! 

 

I have heard from the hotel manager of Maasdam that this has been resolved, from this day forward - fleetwide this has been resolved AND Sel de Mer is INDEED entitled to Mariner discounts on non Pinnacle class ships..  In addition, it is being looked into to have this information more prominently displayed in all Holland America material..  

 

It is in fact in small letters in the back of the current cruise planner, but it is felt it should be more self-evident..  Head office, and I do mean HEAD office, are taking this very seriously.  ALL ships have been notified TODAY.

 

 

 

 

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and I must add, the hotel manager and guest services manager were most gracious - and apologized profusely for the "incident" - 

 

And I am enjoying the cruise immensely - no matter what the outcome would have been.. but I never imagined that my inquiry would escalate to this extent.

 

As Feb 2 is/was the N. Statendam naming day, I am impressed that this problem was addressed urgently - considering all the other hoopla that must be going on.

 

 

Edited by CJcruzer
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Thank you for achieving this victory for all of us.  I am especially thankful that HAL will be updating their written materials to reflect this policy.  It is important that they be consistent across the fleet and that managers have the information necessary to do their jobs in a satisfactory manner.  

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Well done Carol.

 

THANK YOU for persevering on this.

 

Mr. Bernhardt had already taken action and re-educating the ship I was on when I had my issues (and I was reassured this problem would not re-occur) so I suspect he is very concerned that this is still ongoing.

 

I am so glad that you took the time to help get things rectified and consistent for all of us.

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The problem seems to stem from the supervisory/lower level management aboard the ships..  I get the feeling they want to have their own juridiction and interpretation of policy.. Just my opinion.. I cannot fault HAL top brass - I think the ship mid management want to exert their authority.. Self importance is of no importance at all.

 

I must say the hotel manager was extremely embarassed on my behalf over this occurrence, and some of the conversation/details which were revealed.

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Carol,

I think your comments on the middle level management are spot on, they want to be "a big fish in a small pond". I also think that HAL has some serious management communication problems that need resolution. 

 

Thank you for your perseverance.

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30 minutes ago, old mike said:

Carol,

I think your comments on the middle level management are spot on, they want to be "a big fish in a small pond". I also think that HAL has some serious management communication problems that need resolution. 

 

Thank you for your perseverance.

The Hotel Manager is responsible for them and has power to nip it in the bud and do whatever it takes to prevent people usurping their superiors. Hopefully that happens quickly here. 

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8 minutes ago, sppunk said:

Hopefully that happens quickly here.

Hope so too.

 

Our friends caught one of our Neptune Lounge concierges in a bare faced lie on the penultimate day of our fall Westerdam cruise. It  involved communications to/with the Hotel Manager. We had more than a sense from the Hotel Manager that "correction" would be swift and severe. 

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what got my goat, was when the PG manager said that the policy changed last week.. yeah right, how convenient..   kept my mouth shut and sent out a blast of emails..  I felt I was being fed  a "fabricated story".

 

I did not mention this in my emails, just asked for verification, yes or no on Mariner discount for pop up Sel de Mer.. no names mentioned, no he said-she said, no pointing fingers.

 

And I came up smellng like a rose, possibly cannot say the same for PG manager and restaurant manager. 

 

 

Edited by CJcruzer
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7 minutes ago, sueleekey said:

Will this be true for the wine pairing dinner we are doing on the Statendam in two weeks???

No, I don’t believe so. that’s like the Sommelier dinner or Cellar Master.  No discounts for those.

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1 hour ago, sueleekey said:

Will this be true for the wine pairing dinner we are doing on the Statendam in two weeks???

 

If you mean the dinner with Rudi Sodamin, there is no discount for that dinner.  It stated that in the email that we got.  As Kazu posted, these types of dinners are specifically excluded from the Mariner discount.

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I wish that HAL would continue improving that policy and apply the 3-star 25% and 4 star 50% discount when you pre-book online.   It has always been a battle with the Front Desk and the PG manager to get the 50% discount credited back after we completed the dinner.  So much extra paperwork for something that could be so easily handled by adjusting the online price of a dinner in any of the specialty restaurants to reflect your Mariner status at the time you pay for the dinner online.

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1 hour ago, TAD2005 said:

I wish that HAL would continue improving that policy and apply the 3-star 25% and 4 star 50% discount when you pre-book online.   It has always been a battle with the Front Desk and the PG manager to get the 50% discount credited back after we completed the dinner.  So much extra paperwork for something that could be so easily handled by adjusting the online price of a dinner in any of the specialty restaurants to reflect your Mariner status at the time you pay for the dinner online.

 

other than the fight for my free 5* and my Sel de Mer, I haven't had this issue with any speciality dining that is eligible for discounts for Mariners. Yes, I still pay full price, but, by day 2 at the latest, I see all the loyalty credits for the 50% owed to me and I have OBC back for it on board.

 

I only had to do battle the first cruise since it was introduced.  Since then, it has been applied automatically for me.  Now, the 5* benefit and Sel de Mer has been another story 😉   😞 

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1 hour ago, TAD2005 said:

I wish that HAL would continue improving that policy and apply the 3-star 25% and 4 star 50% discount when you pre-book online.   It has always been a battle with the Front Desk and the PG manager to get the 50% discount credited back after we completed the dinner.  So much extra paperwork for something that could be so easily handled by adjusting the online price of a dinner in any of the specialty restaurants to reflect your Mariner status at the time you pay for the dinner online.

It’s be a bit of a nightmare to pull off online because it’s only applicable to the guest. So if you book for 4 but you’re the only 3* or above only one receives the discount. The online system wouldn’t necessarily know the other Mariner statuses.

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1 hour ago, sppunk said:

It’s be a bit of a nightmare to pull off online because it’s only applicable to the guest. So if you book for 4 but you’re the only 3* or above only one receives the discount. The online system wouldn’t necessarily know the other Mariner statuses.

Only the guest? I understood the star discount applies to the folio. I’m expecting my discount to include my DH for our upcoming dinner in the Pinnacle.

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1 minute ago, TiogaCruiser said:

Only the guest? I understood the star discount applies to the folio. I’m expecting my discount to include my DH for our upcoming dinner in the Pinnacle.

 

And it will.  🙂 

 

spunk was simply trying to explain the difficulty of applying the discount on line.

 

I don’t care either way as long as my OBC is applied promptly and I don’t have to go “begging, asking or fighting” for my benefits. 😉 

 

 

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