Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

changes at the top

3rdGenCunarder

By 3rdGenCunarder,
in Holland America Line

 Share

Recommended Posts

3rdGenCunarder "Live from...." Rare

3rdGenCunarder

Posted
Posted

There are changes being made in the Holland America Group. I don't recognize names involved, except for Orlando Ashford. It appears that some functions that were done for the whole group are now going to be handled by each brand separately. HAL sales execs are out and Mr Ashford will be overseeing the North American sales team. Maybe he'll take a look at the website and see what we've all been dealing with!

 

https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/news/featured/paul-goodwin-is-leaving-in-holland-america-group-changes/

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
*Miss G* "Live from...." Rare

*Miss G*

Posted
Posted

Brands will assume more direct management of certain areas

Several departments are being restructured to more efficiently manage operations and to give the individual brands more direct management of on-board revenue and other guest-facing areas of their business that were previously managed in a shared services model, a company spokeswoman said.

 

======================

 

Hmm.  ^^Very interesting statement.  So many things could go well — or not — with this model.  As I have no inside knowledge it’s difficult to determine if this is a good thing or a bad thing for HAL.  Being a glass-half-full kind of person I look forward to positive results.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
sevenseasnomad

sevenseasnomad

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, sppunk said:

Just adding charges, he remains as president.

Is this good?  For some of us, he hasn't run HAL that well, so they're giving him more responsibility?  Doesn't make sense to me, but time will tell.

 

BTW, I received a Celebrity mailer today, which advertises their newest ship, the 100 guest Flora.  HAL gets rid of its smallest ship, and Celebrity adds a ship that carries substantially fewer passengers.  Go figure.  

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites
kazu "Live from...." Rare

kazu

Posted
Posted
7 minutes ago, sevenseasnomad said:

BTW, I received a Celebrity mailer today, which advertises their newest ship, the 100 guest Flora.  HAL gets rid of its smallest ship, and Celebrity adds a ship that carries substantially fewer passengers.  Go figure.  

 

Yup.  HAL missed the boat IMO.

And since the person in charge was on that ship for a very few days and didn’t like it when he heard that the cruisers on board loved this ship, it was pretty obvious what his direction was.

 

He’s missed the boat, too, IMO.  

 

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
taxmantoo

taxmantoo

Posted
Posted
11 hours ago, iancal said:

My read is poor sales...missing sales and revenue targets requires a change.  And they made it.  Long overdue based on the rather sad state of their in house sales tool- their website.

I sincerely believe some of the blame for poor sales in the last few years can be attributed directly to very poor operational decisions taken by the gentleman they have just put in charge of North American sales. 🙄 Am I the only one thinking things will get worse before getting better?  Just saying ...

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites
iancal

iancal

Posted
Posted (edited)

I believe that HAL has some major challenges to overcome.   I doubt very much whether it is all left up to HAL.  No doubt Carnival Corp is providing a certain amount of direction when it comes to their profit and balance sheets, including capital spend.

 

Like any other subsidiary of a larger corporation I have no doubt that HAL is getting a certain amount of direction and 'help' from the parent.   That direction, help, and oversight no doubt increases on any of the subsidiary cruise lines if they miss their financial, operational, or growth targets.  I would not assume that Mr. Ashford has a free hand to run the business as he wishes.

Edited by iancal
  • Like 3
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
AncientWanderer

AncientWanderer

Posted
Posted

I think odds are that this will be a positive move for the customer.  HAL has been stuck recently in a self-defeating spiral.  The ships I've been on have actually been quite full -- of people who paid last minute for a cheap cruise, and then to turn a profit HAL had to necessarily cut out a lot of stuff -- which leads to more bad reviews, bad brand image and selling more last-minute cheap cruises.  That's a bad cycle.  

And we're always complaining here about lack of consistency across the brand.  They can fix that.

 

Whatever their organization chart has been lately, it hasn't been very effective.  Good news that there is a shake-up to set things right.  It really couldn't continue the way it was.  Thumbs up and will follow along with interest.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
TAD2005

TAD2005

Posted
Posted

I agree that the website fiasco is a major contributor to HAL's problems.  But when the website fails you, one option is to call Seattle for the answers.   Unfortunately, the answers you get from agents in Seattle vary all over the place depending on which agent you get.   It seems that the policies set by Seattle many times are completely different to actual practice onboard.   One glaring example is the change of the SBP to $11 per drink max price.   Some agents in Seattle are still telling guests that it is $9, a policy that changed last April.   And some bartenders and waiters onboard are still stuck in the $9 world.   Policy direction should come from the top, and everyone, even a Lido bar waiter should be totally trained and updated on the current policy.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites
NordicPrince

NordicPrince

Posted
Posted
On 11/7/2019 at 6:41 PM, sevenseasnomad said:

Is this good?  For some of us, he hasn't run HAL that well, so they're giving him more responsibility?  Doesn't make sense to me, but time will tell.

 

BTW, I received a Celebrity mailer today, which advertises their newest ship, the 100 guest Flora.  HAL gets rid of its smallest ship, and Celebrity adds a ship that carries substantially fewer passengers.  Go figure.  

The Flora is a very specialized location ship (boat) used in places like the Galapagos where Celebrity already has a presence. It's not a place where HAL

does business.

I know many are upset about the sale of the Prinsendam, but honestly it was an old and small ship. You don't know what the operational costs were. The only way you can justify smaller ships like the ones Viking is building (47,000 tons) is to charge sky high prices. The cheapest price I saw for 14 day Viking trip to Europe in the lowest category Veranda was $4500 plus $1000 for airfare. Of course for that you get a ship with only Verandas, an included excursion in every port, wine and beer at lunch and dinner.

Can the HAL model support that?

The question for HAL is what are you and where are you going? 

The advantage HAL has IMO is better itineraries on longer voyages of 14-20+ days. What size ships you have to build that can support that is the question.

Traditional HAL enthusiasts like the smaller ships.

 

 

 

 

 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites
tfred

tfred

Posted
Posted

those people sacked weren't making the top or bottom line number - that is why they are gone

 

The bigger picture for HAL is what is the marketing strategy ?  Who do they want on board and how do they get profitable.  

 

You ask most people (at least that I know) what about HAL as a cruise and the response is not great.  Old, boring, too traditional

 

I see many people here moaning about the old HAL going away, but that included a lot of free stuff.  Cruiselines don't make money off of free stuff.  They make money from casino, spa, drinks and speciality food.  they have to get people on board that want to spend money for that.  

 

with the advent of $billion dollar boats, pax who sit on the deck with a blanket are not a target market.

 

Viking does have a good business model and I think that HAL would love to get some of that 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Boatdrill

Boatdrill

Posted
Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, NordicPrince said:

 

Traditional HAL enthusiasts like the smaller ships.

 

 

 

 

 

The smaller ships are nice, and preferable to mega ships. However my first impression of the Statendam many  years ago (my first small HAL ship) was that it felt very enclosed. I called it "the indoor ship".  I was used to the light, airy feeling and openess of the Crystal ships. However the size and other negative attributes (IMHO) of the NS and Koningsdam will keep me from ever considering them.  

Hopefully HAL has a new small ship  in the pipeline.

Edited by Boatdrill
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing
  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • ANNOUNCEMENT: Set Sail Beyond the Ordinary with Oceania Cruises
      • ANNOUNCEMENT: The Widest View in the Whole Wide World
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...